


Star Wars, Episode IX: A New Religion

by someonesbeenhere



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Action/Adventure, DameRey, Episode Related, Eventual Romance, F/F, F/M, Family, Force Bond (Star Wars), Jealousy, Jedi, Jedi Training (Star Wars), Kylo Ren Redemption, Love Triangles, Multi, Post-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rebellion, Redemption, Reylo - Freeform, The Force, The Force Ships It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-23
Updated: 2019-11-15
Packaged: 2020-01-24 13:30:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 56,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18572479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/someonesbeenhere/pseuds/someonesbeenhere
Summary: Continuing on from the end of The Last Jedi, Rey heads off with the last of the Resistance in the belly of the Millienuim Falcon. Snoke is dead, a new Supreme Leader has taken his place and Rey doesn't know what to do now. Their bond is still there, she can feel it, feel him but it's not Snoke's doing anymore. They're linked, connected but why? And now he's closing it off to her when she needs it, now more than ever. She thought she'd finally found somewhere she belonged but the side glances and whispers of the Resistance crew make her think that maybe where she belongs is being left behind on a forgotton planet and  he may never forgive her. As Rey finds her footing as a Jedi she's keeping secrets from the people she cares about and the only person that truly knows her is Ben, but will he let her save him?





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! This is my first venture on AO3! I've been writing on FanFiction.net for many years and I thought I would give on here a try. Full Disclaimer! This story is much, much further ahead on there but I will be posting it all on here, a chapter a day until I'm all caught up! I'm hoping to make a good transition to AO3 though so you're support on here would be so heart warming! <3 Let me know what you thinkt! Much love everyone! <3 xxx oooh, it's all so exciting!

 

 

As Rey shut the remains of the Resistance into the Falcon, the connection broke. It was different now. Snoke was dead, no longer able to play them like puppets. No, this was all them, reaching out, touching each other’s worlds. And it overwhelmed her senses. Before, Kylo Ren had manifested where she was, in her surroundings, an uninvited guest. She noted to herself previously that his black clothing and his harshly lit skin always seemed out of place in the beauty of Ach-to. But now, it was like she was drawn to him. Like she was right there in that mine with him, she could breathe in the stale air and smell the molten metal and scorched red earth. He didn’t look out of place now, he looked much like the Rebel base itself, destroyed and abandoned. If he had the same connection that she did, and she knew that he did, he could see exactly where she was, who she was with and how they were leaving but made no move to stop them. Instead his eyes – Ben Solo’s eyes – pleaded to her not to leave him. As the door closed, her heart broke.

 

The enormity of what had happened between them wasn’t lost on her. Ben had trusted her enough to let his guard down and when they touched hands, Rey’s mind was filled with answers on how to stop all the hurt, all the pain and torment that plagued the galaxy. Her mind was filled with Light, and in it, her and Ben together. Losing Ben’s touch to Luke’s fear and rage, Rey knew she had to find Ben, tell him of everything she’d seen and how she’d be there to help her vision become reality. Ben, however, had seen something different, he’d seen her join him in the Dark. When Snoke admitted that he had infiltrated their minds, Rey was no longer even sure if their visions had been real or a construct of Snoke’s but as he dragged her, tossed her, tortured her in his Throne room she knew that whatever she and Ben were fated for, it was together. He proved this to her by killing his Master and taking on his entire guard with her fighting alongside him. When he held out his hand to her and whispered “please”, her vision of them shattered. She was something to him, she’d never been something to anyone in her life but now, ruling the galaxy with him? That wasn’t how this was meant to be, she couldn’t be with him if this was the way. When she woke up from the blast of the lightsaber that sent them hurtling in opposite directions, Rey sprinted to grab the remnants of her Master’s lightsaber to find that she was the only one grabbing for it. She saw him, sprawled on the hard floor. She kneeled beside him and pushed his hair from his face. His chest heaved, slowly, calmly, almost as if he was sleeping and she let out a breath that she hadn’t realised she was holding. She could have killed him. Ended everything right there and then. But she had people that she cared about that needed saving, the problem was, Ben was now one of them.

 

Rey now sat on the Falcon, scraps of what was left of the mighty Resistance around her, elated at their miraculous escape at the hands of the Last Jedi. The Jedi however sat holding the two destroyed pieces of Luke’s lightsaber, wondering how she would even begin to fix everything that had been broken. Her eyes wandered to Finn. He was wrapping a small, dark haired girl in a thick blanket. She had been carried onto the freighter, she’d heard that she’d been injured saving Finn’s life. It was obvious looking at the way he was tending to her that he cared for her a great deal too. She was glad, being constantly at war, she’d learned, left no time to stop and appreciate things like caring for someone. Rey desperately wished she could go back and appreciate her time with Luke, appreciate her time with Finn, her moments with Ben. For a brief moment, Rey caught herself wondering what would have happened if she had taken his hand. Joined him. Would she be with him now? Would they be together? And for and even briefer moment she wondered if it would have been such a bad thing.

 

She snapped out of her reverie to the unmistakable excitable beeps of BB-8 speeding towards her.

“BB-8!” Rey exclaimed happily. She didn’t manage much more than that as the little droid started beeping at her loudly, telling her all about his adventures with Finn and Rose. “Ah, so Rose is the name of Finn’s friend?” BB beeped confirmation of this and continued his story. “You stole a ship?!” Rey feigned outrage at the little droid. He beeped hurriedly back at her “Okay, okay, so you helped steal and ship?” BB-8 wasn’t happy with this either as he squawked back her. “BB-8, I’m teasing you, I stole a ship today too. We’ll keep it our secret.” BB-8 rolled around happily at this. Hearing BB-8’s tales of heroism, Rey hadn’t noticed the man approach her until he spoke.

“Hi” he said to her smiling. Rey looked up at him from where she crouched by BB-8 and smiled at the man.

“Hi” she responded.

“I’m Poe” He held out his hand to her. She took his hand and smiled at him. This was Poe. She’d only ever heard about him from BB-8 and Finn so she had no idea what she was expecting but he certainly wasn’t it. He was young! Older than her of course but younger than one would expect a legendary Resistance pilot to be. He looked around the same age as Ben maybe? Her stomach knotted at the thought of him. Her attention was back on Poe, his face, it was handsome, she liked it. “Rey” she said.

“I know.” He knows? Rey smiled, no one had ever known of her before, it was surreal but she found that she liked that too.

 

* * *

 

 

He’d done it, he’d broken the ice with her. Poe had heard so much about Rey from Jakku that he never stopped to actually think about what she might look like. She was gorgeous. Poe didn’t really make time for courting girls, he just loved to fly. Plus he spent most of his time with BB-8, that probably put girls off. Poe was still a man though and it didn’t matter if you had a type or not, no man could deny that Rey was stunning. For a while, he’d thought there had been something between Finn and Rey, looking at her now, he completely got it. He wanted something between himself and Rey. All this flashed though his mind while she smiled at him … until he realised he was still holding her hand …

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean ... uh, I … you’re gonna need that back!” he dropped her hand quickly, too quickly. Rey flinched at his outburst. “sorry” he mumbled quietly. She smiled. That smile, urgh!

“It’s okay.” What was wrong with him, he was usually so calm! He’s faced a troop of First Order goons, in a lone X-wing with shoddy handling and faulty weapons systems before. Talking to a beautiful girl … woman … _Jedi_ should be a piece of cake. Get a hold of yourself! He mentally berated himself.

BB-8’s told me a lot about you. How you saved him on Jakku.” He told her. She smiled and looked down at the droid who had parked himself in between them.

“Yeah, we became fast friends, didn’t we?” BB-8 beeped in agreement. “He’s told me a lot about you too, the dashing Resistance hero Poe Dameron.” As soon as she’d realised what she’d said, her eyes widen and her face flushed pink. Dashing?!

“Dashing? You think I’m dashing?” Poe smirked at her, causing Rey to wriggle in her seat.

“No, I mean … yeah, you are but what I meant is that’s what BB-8 told me!” Her voice sounded panicked. Poe had no idea why, any guy would love to hear Rey refer to him as dashing. He quickly decided that he didn’t want her to be afraid to compliment him again so he cooled the tension.

“Oh really? BB-8, do you really think I’m dashing?” he flashed BB-8 his most charming smile and gave the droid a wink. The droid looked between the two of them, beeping an obvious denial.

“So much for fast friends” Rey mumbled. Having had enough nonsense for one day, BB-8 leaves Poe and Rey alone. It was quiet for a moment, each one of them waiting for the other to break the silence. “I always wanted to be a pilot y’know” she finally said. “I had an old Rebel pilot helmet back where I lived on Jakku, I would put it on and feel untouchable, hoping one day I could just fly away.”

“Well you did amazing today! You’d be a brilliant pilot!” he told her.

“Oh no, that was all Chewie! I’ve only flown a couple of times. Nowhere near as amazing as you!” Poe smiled at her.

“No, no, I’m not that amaz- okay, I’m pretty amazing” He gave her his cockiest grin, and she laughed. Poe liked that sound. He wants to make her do it again. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll teach you all my tricks sometime, how’s that?” Rey nodded.

“I’d like that.”

 

* * *

 

 

Leia had insisted that Poe “stop blabbing”, the General’s words, at Rey and let her get some rest. While she was disappointed that her getting to know Poe chat was cut short, she couldn’t deny that she could feel sleep creeping up on her. She didn’t want to ruin her new friendship straight away by falling asleep during conversation. General Organa walked with her through the ship to the sleeping quarters. Most of the Resistance members had hunkered down in the main hold. They moved all the time, sleeping on cramped ships was nothing new to them. They knew it was wise to get sleep while they had the chance.

“Let’s get you to a bed, you’ve had it rough today.” The General said. She held Rey’s hand in between her own older hands.

“We all have, I don’t want to deprive someone of a bed, I’m used to sleeping on metal floors.” Leia tutted at the young Jedi.

“You’re more important than any of us, if anyone needs to get proper rest, it’s you.” Rey opened her mouth to protest but the older woman held up a hand. “Besides” she continued “we used to travel on this hunk of junk as a family and more, there’s many rooms. Go find one, no arguing. That’s an order.” Her tone was forceful but her face softened into a smile. Rey smiled back at Leia and turned to leave her. “Oh, and Rey?” Rey turned back, the General’s face more solemn now.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know what happened between you and Ben but when- if- you’re ready to talk about it, you have someone who won’t judge you.” Rey just nodded. The Princess didn’t push further, realizing that now was not that time.

When Rey found and empty room, she closed the door behind her. Seeing the door had a lock, she flipped it over. She flipped a switch by the door and light flooded the room. It was a bedroom alright, _his_. A single cot sat in the corner of the room and trunk sat on the floor in front of it. She walked to the trunk, sat down and opened it. Inside were various shirts and robes and bottoms, all the correct size for a tall child. She held a soft tunic in her hands, it was grey in colour and it didn’t even look like it had been worn. She gripped the fabric tight in her hands and looked around the small room. By the top of the cot was a small piece of paper stuck to the wall, she crawled across the floor and took the paper from the wall. It was a photo. In it was the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, looking as dilapidated as ever. In the co-pilot seat sat Han Solo, looking unbelievably young. He’s grinning from ear to ear, his eyes reduced to small slits in his face where his smile had taken over. He has his arm extended out to encircle the pilot seat in which a small grinning face beamed out from under a massive headset. His pale face stood out from his impossibly black hair that was styled like his fathers. Rey felt a burning pain in her throat as she looked at the photo.

 

Her thoughts drifted to him. If they were keeping the bond alive now, could they control it? If she reached out to him, could she see him again? She held the photo and the tunic tight in her hands and closed her eyes. She reached out, the way Master Luke had showed her, searching for him. Finding nothing, she squeezed her eyes tighter, searching harder.

“Ben” She breathed, so quietly she wasn’t sure if or why she’d said it at all. It this though, there was a flicker. He heard her. She opened her eyes and looked around, nothing. Closing her eyes again, she reached out and felt the same flicker. She couldn’t see her or hear him but she could feel him. Feel what he felt right now. And she felt betrayal.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come and have a chat on twitter too! @hannahmargaretx


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey reaches out to Ben who's less than pleased. However, it forces him to come to terms with what is happening to them now that Snoke is gone.

Rey knew the feeling of betrayal, she'd felt it by Unkar Plutt giving her less than what she was due, she'd felt it helping children on Jakku who'd steal her treasures in the night and she'd even let the feeling tinge the memory of her parents. She'd felt it that day when Kylo Ren stood before her, demanding that she turn to the Dark after all that she'd done to save him. But the pang that she'd felt was nothing compared to this over-whelming ache in her chest. His betrayal burned deep and cut painfully and she realised that this betrayal was at her hand and completely justified. She hadn't saved him today but he had definitely saved her. He'd turned his back on the First Order, the Sith and even his own Master because she had promised him, her, standing with him. He had freed himself from the oppression of his Master, thinking that his freedom came with her and she'd turned away from him when he begged her to join him. He was right to feel betrayed but her joining him in the Dark wouldn't resolve his conflict, only turning back to the Light would do that. To the Light and the people that cared for him, her breath hitched at that thought. She never told him this though, none of it. He had to know why.

"Ben" she whispered again. As she reached out in her mind to him, she could feel him tense. Like she had been stopped by a wall of ice, hard, no way through but she could feel him on the other side. "Ben, please."

"Don't call me that." He snapped. He spoke quietly but she had never heard anything sound so crystal clear in her head.

"Ben!" she sighed, she heard the relief in her own voice.

"Don't call me that!" he yelled. She jumped but not because he scared her, he didn't have that power, but because his anger caused his mental wall to shatter in her mind. Her eyes flashed open and he was there in front of her, sat on the edge of his old cot on the Falcon. He was hunched over, his face to the floor. From her seat on the floor, she could look up to his face. He would know this if he didn't have his eyes closed so tight. Trying to block out the world, block out her. She reached out to touch him but his eyes flashed open. He leapt off the cot, shoving her out his way.

"Get away from me!" he looked at her now. She could see everything he felt now, the anger, the betrayal, the hurt, the … fear? "No, you're not really here. You can't be." He shook his head, staring at her in disbelief. She raised herself off the floor, her eyes never leaving his face, he faced him.

"I am Ben, I'm right here."

"No, no, no, you can't be. It was all Snoke, not this, it can't be." He mumbled to himself, he looked panicked, scared almost. "No, no. I killed him. This isn't happening."

"It is." She said quietly.

"NO!" he exploded "Snoke. Is dead! I killed him! There's no other way for you to be here!" Rey held her hands out to him, showing him what she was holding. She gave him a small smile, she stopped quickly when she realised that was a mistake. "You're doing this?" she nodded "You can't be, the effort … it killed Luke to do something like this." Rey shook her head.

"What Luke did, this isn't that. I'm not … not exactly sure what I'm doing, I just know that I can feel something in here" she motioned to her chest "and when I reach out to it, I find you." She looked up at him, searching his face. What she was searching for in him, she didn't know. Acceptance maybe? "It's happened before, I saw you on Crait. I thought you'd seen me too."

"I thought I'd imagined that" he said so quietly, she assumed that he hoped she wouldn't hear him, but she had. His face looked pensive for a moment before his eyes widened slightly. "You're saying you can control this now? This, what's happening?" Rey nodded at him. "By this reasoning, I should be able to control it too, yes?" She nodded again.

"I think so" she told him. He took in this information and turned away from her.

"Good." And with that, he disappeared.

Rey collapsed down on the cot, hurt and exhaustion dragging her down, she dropped Ben's things to the floor. After all the loss and triumph today, now, this moment is when she felt defeated.

*****

Rey didn't think she would be able to sleep but the fact that she woke up on the cot with a start was evidence that she had. She didn't feel at all rested, she felt worse. Her sleep had been plagued with nightmares, his nightmares. She'd seen Luke's face as he held an ignited lightsaber over his nephew and it scared her. She saw Snoke strike his apprentice over and over with lightning demanding better and it broke her. She saw herself reaching for the blue lightsaber instead of his outstretched hand, and it pained her.

She looked around the small room, the light stinging her eyes. She'd collapsed into sleep so quickly that she hadn't turned out the room light, she even lay on top of the blanket on the cot. As she surveyed, she saw a piece of paper by the door. Stiffly, she got up from the bed and stretched. If she was going to have more bad nights like this, she was going to have to train more to keep agile. She picked up the paper which had some hastily scrawled handwriting on it.

Rey,

I hope you're in this room, this is the 4th note I've left under doors and I'm getting some weird looks. We've landed, we came to let you know but the door was locked. Sleep well and come find us when you're ready.

Dashing Resistance Hero, Poe Dameron.

Rey smiled. This wasn't something Rey was used to. Usually waking up with people looking for you was a bad thing on Jakku. Now she had people that cared about her, wanted to wake her up, know she was okay, wish her a good sleep. The Resistance was becoming her family, she cared for them, fought for them. But they could never know that she cared and fought for their greatest enemy as well.

Hang on, landed? Landed where? She backtracked herself, thinking it was probably best that she didn't know considering her attachment to the new Supreme Leader.

She rushed out the small room and down the Falcon's corridors to the main hold, it was empty. Even Chewie was nowhere to be found. She stood for a moment in the quiet ship that was only hours ago brimming with the life and hope that the Resistance had left. A loud clang shocked her out of her reverie and a pipe in the main hold popped and started spewing steam into the air. From outside the ship she heard an annoyed Wookie yell, found Chewie, she thought.

As she walked towards the opened Falcon door, her senses were overwhelmed. The sunlight was warm but not harsh the way Jakku was. The smell in the air was wet but sweet, it was the greatest smell she'd ever come across, surpassing the smell of the ocean on Ach-to. And her eyes widened painfully to take in the immense amount of colour surrounding her. There was tall trees and grass of varying shades of green, the sky and water were the brightest blue and the fields of flowers around her were full of so many colours, most of which Rey had never even seen before. Colour was a rare thing where she was from. Everything was so beautiful.

"Rey! You're awake!" Poe's voice brought her back to reality, was this reality? She wasn't sure, it seemed too good to be true. He jogged over to her smiling warmly, it was infectious and she smiled back.

"Hi, I'm looking for a dashing hero, he left me a note, have you seen one?" Poe stopped and looked puzzled.

"Uh, no. I haven't seen him but if I do, I'll be sure to tell him absolutely nothing so I can keep you to myself." He grinned at her again and she blushed slightly, only slightly.

"This place is beautiful." She replied, moving to a different topic.

"Yeah …" Poe said looking at her. He started slightly and looked around "I mean yeah, gorgeous isn't it? Can you believe that we're-" Rey held up a hand to him.

"AH! If you're going to tell me where we are, don't! Please." She softened her voice on that last word, realising how harsh she'd sounded. Poe looked confused but held up his hands.

"Okay, I won't."

"Thank you." She said. She heard commotion among the Resistance members she could see. They were happy, excited even. Hugging each other, patting each other on the back. They surrounded a man and a woman, who had their arms wrapped around each other. "What's going on?" Rey asked Poe, he followed her gaze and grinned.

"Exciting news! There's going to be a Resistance wedding!" Poe said excitedly. A wedding?

"A wedding?" Rey asked quizzically, did she think that or say it twice?

"Yeah, it's when two people are in love and they express it by-"

"I know what a wedding is, Poe." Rey glared at him. "I just didn't think that you all would care about that sort of thing. Too busy planning our next moves, attacks, hiding. Rebellion things. We're at war." Poe looked genuinely surprised.

"Rey, that's exactly why we have to think about these kind of things. Being at war all the time, leading a Rebellion, it's hard. You have to know when to stop and appreciate times like this. Friendship, love … hope." Poe bent down and picked a bright orange flower out of the grass. He handed it to Rey. She smiled at him and took it. It smelled wonderful.

"That's a very hopeful way of looking at things." She told him.

"I'm a Rebel, hope's what I do." He smirked and shrugged. She looked out at the happy crowd, allowing their joy to infect her. She needed it.

"Poe?"

"Yeah?"

"What am I supposed to do with this now?" She gestured to him with the flower.

"Uhm …" he looked at it confused. "I have absolutely no idea."

*****

He opened his eyes slowly. He was used to the nightmares. Used to very little sleep but now it was different. She was in there and somehow, it's like he couldn't leave her there. The same nightmares had plagued him for as long as he could remember, each new traumatising encounter adding to his night time experience. He'd grown so used to them that he would wake himself up and not go back to sleep until exhaustion took him involuntarily. He hadn't felt overly tired last night until after she'd broken into his mind. He could feel her exhaustion, her mind tired from reaching out to him and when he'd cut her off, her tiredness overtook him. Going through the usual cycle of bad memories, he'd seen it all before and while they all still pained him, it was nothing compared to the blow he felt from this new memory. He stood, his hand outstretched to her, begging her. He'd never felt so weak and powerful. He was exposed, opening up to her, asking her to join him. If she took his hand, there was nothing they couldn't conquer, the Galaxy would bend to them. But her face streamed with tears and her eyes didn't reflect what he felt. His fears came to reality when she made a grab for his ex-Master's lightsaber instead of him. He was stuck, in that moment. He couldn't wake up this time. He just couldn't, he felt like if he woke up, he'd be leaving her there to deal with all his worst fears alone and he wouldn't do that to her. Instead, he slept. He took the pain.

And now, they were still connected. Opening up the wound every time the Force would connect them. Although, that's not how it worked anymore, was it? She had been controlling it, reaching out to him. Projecting herself across the Galaxy should have killed her. She wasn't strong enough, Luke did it but the power it took killed him. There was only one way they could still be seeing each other but it couldn't be … he'd never heard of it happening in his lifetime. It was so rare.

He stood up from the bed, still wearing his clothes. Slept had grabbed him so suddenly, he hadn't even removed his boots. He rubbed his eyes with one hand, putting pressure on them to try and ease the pain behind them.

"What is happening?" he mumbled. In the same moment that he realised that he'd said it out loud, he felt that he wasn't alone.

"You know exactly what is happening."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kylo gets an surprising but not totally unexpected vistor and Finn gives Rey some inspiration.

Kylo froze. He'd been waiting on this moment, he just didn't think it would come so soon. He turned, not sure what he was going to see. He'd heard of things like this happening before but he'd never experienced it first-hand. Then again, he'd never murdered any of his Masters before.

"Luke." He regarded the apparition coldly. Luke stood before him, not quite there. He looked younger, much like the way he looked when he trained Kylo in his temple, not the ragged, decrepit, old man Kylo thought he'd grow to be.

"Hey kid." Luke greeted him casually as if he was still his bratty 8 year old nephew. Kylo hated it.

"What are you doing here Luke?" He'd felt Luke die on Crait, his spirit dissipating from the Force. He'd always hoped that his Uncle's death would be at his hands.

"I told ya, kid. Strike me down and I'll always be with you. Here I am."

"But you didn't die at my hand." Kylo reasoned. He walked through Luke and headed in the direction of a large metal chest. He opened it and dragged out a thick, black tunic.

"Yeah but you wanted me to." Luke chimed back at him, turning around to follow his nephew.

"What gave it away?" Kylo replied to him sarcastically. He unbuckled his belt and took off the tunic he woke up in and put on the clean one, his appearance looking exactly the same before and after.

"Oh, black again. How inspiring." Luke regarded him.

"Why are you here Luke?" Kylo buckled his belt around his waist, ignoring his Uncle's last remark and waiting for an answer to his question.

"I'm here to help you." Luke stated matter-of-factly.

"When have you ever helped me? And that self-important, ego trip of trying to mentor me doesn't count. Besides, I don't need help."

"Sure sounds like you do. Looks like it too." He was referring to Kylo's dishevelled, wrecked face.

"It shouldn't surprise you that I have always had problems with sleepless nights, I've always done just fine on my own."

"I'm not talking about that and you know it." Luke said, no hint of humour in his face anymore. Kylo turned away from him.

"You know what's happening to me?" Kylo asked quietly.

"You already know what's happening to you, you just have to face it." Luke told him.

"I've never heard of it actually happening before."

"Doesn't mean it hasn't, kid. Despite what you might believe, you don't know everything." Kylo flashed the ghostly shape of his former Master a furious glare, phasing the old man in no way. "It's rare, but it does happen. And it's … it's real. In the context of the Force. It's deep, it's tangible, it's strong … and it cannot be ignored Ben."

"DON'T! Call me. Ben." Kylo snaps.

"Oh sure, when Rey does it, it's okay." Luke shrugs at him, his frustration obvious at his ignored teachings.

"NONE OF THIS IS OKAY!" Kylo exploded. His clothing chest is tossed violently across the room, through Luke and crashing against the opposite wall. "NONE OF IT WAS EVEN REAL! It was all made up by Snoke."

"I don't know if Snoke knew what he was doing at the time but whether he created it or the two of you did it beforehand, it's there now. You're bonded together, that's something you don't just turn your back on. It runs deep and it's powerful, so powerful that you and Rey could physically touch each other and in doing so, I could see your bond." Kylo's breath hitched at mention of her name and the reminder of his most vulnerable moment with her. "And it's obvious you care deeply about her." Luke said eyeing him.

"I could have." He responded quietly. "But she betrayed me!" Kylo lashed out and Luke strode right up to his face.

"Get over yourself!" Luke barked in his face "What did you think was going to happen?! That she was going to just flip a switch, turn Dark, wear matching black outfits with you as you look out over the Galaxy you oppressed?!"

"She expected that from me!" Kylo yelled back.

"Yes, because she saw Light in you! She wanted to help you, not pull you down which is what you would have done to her. Rey is goodness and Light, you can't change that but you can change you. You think that caring for her makes you weak, but you're wrong."

"I don't car-" Luke put up his hand to silence him.

"You do. The two of you are the opposite sides of the same coin, she needs you and you need her. You make her stronger just as she makes you stronger. The only thing that makes you weak is your refusal to believe that." Luke disappeared before Kylo's eyes which he was thankful for because even from the dead his Uncle still had the ability to floor him.

Weak? He wasn't weak. He couldn't be. He was the Supreme Leader now. Conveniently, after the previous one was murdered by a girl who barely had a hold on her powers. Hux was constantly watching his every move, he could squash Hux like the bug he was but that wouldn't help his situation, suspicions were rising and The Knights of Ren were converging to meet their new Supreme Leader. No, he couldn't be weak. Weakness could be his end. Every time he saw her, he got one step closer to being killed.

*****

Rey stood in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the Resistance crew. Each of them darting around with a sense of purpose. She realised that she hadn't actually spent a lot of time among the Resistance, she didn't really know what her place was with them day to day. Scanning everyone that passed her, she looked for a familiar face but there was no one. She felt a small pang of loneliness sink in. She didn't know what use she could be to anyone around her anyway, unless they wanted to know how many portions parts of their ships are worth. She picked up her staff and headed past them. Most of them ignored her but some of them acknowledged her, some with awe and others with wariness. She could feel animosity in some of them. She felt herself wanting to probe further, get inside their heads, understand why they don't trust her. She tried to brush these thoughts away when they arose, they were tinted with Darkness.

She disappeared into the lush treeline and started to run. She felt better already, she wasn't used to being around so many people, she had always been alone. She'd realised that being surrounded by people made her anxious. So many thoughts and feelings happening all at the same time, in the Force, she felt like she could feel them all, it overwhelmed her. Running further and further into the trees, she continued until the feeling subsided. She finally stopped when she came to a clearing, luscious and green. She dropped herself into the grass and started panting, trying to regain a normal breathing pattern.

When her heart had calmed down, she stood back up and picked up her staff. She began to expertly twirl and spin it around her body, sparring with an imaginary partner. It was light and easy to use and she'd been wielding it for as long as she could hold something of its size. She'd picked it up to defend herself during a scrap dispute on Jakku, she'd found that she liked it as a weapon. Beats trying to get her hands on a blaster. She swung the staff around wildly in the clearing, jabbing and striking an invisible enemy. That was until the staff barely missed someone's head and the intruder dropped themselves to the ground to evade her. They yelled and so did she.

"Woah, hey!" Finn yelled from the ground.

"Finn?!" Rey yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me!" Rey dropped her staff and dropped to her knees to embrace her friend. Finn hugged her back. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just scared me is all." She let him go and sat in the grass beside him.

"I thought you could sense me coming or whatever. Y'know, with your …" he wiggled his fingers at her head. Rey laughed at him and Finn smiles.

"I was too busy thinking." Rey told him. Finn's put on a serious face.

"You should really work on that." Finn said with deadpan seriousness before breaking back out into a smile.

"I really should." Rey mused for moment before speaking again. "How's … Rose, is it?"

"Yeah, yeah, she's doing okay actually. Surprisingly, most of the damage she took was head trauma. When she finally woke up, the Med staff wanted to watch her overnight before releasing her. She's glad to be able to go to the wedding, the groom is a good friend of hers." Finn looked at her warily.

"That's great! You really care for her, don't you?" Rey asked him. Finn nervously rubbed the back of his neck and blushed slightly, looking away from her.

"Yeah, it just kind of snuck up on me." He looked at Rey now "Are we good Rey?" He watched her face, trying to gauge her expressions. It all of a sudden hit Rey what Finn was looking for in her face. She burst out laughing, surprising him.

"I'm not in love with you Finn!" she continued laughing and he started to chuckle slightly.

"Okay, don't laugh too hard Rey." She tried to stop but small giggles kept creeping out.

"I'm sorry, I do love you Finn. But I'm not in love with you. I think I thought I did at one point but I know now that I love you like my family." Rey told him, trying to comfort him after outright laughing in his face.

"You know now? What changed?" Rey tensed. Finn seemed to sense that she didn't want to answer his last question. "Well, I'm glad we're okay, to be honest, I thought I might be losing you to Poe by the sounds of things." Finn grinned at her and now it was Rey's turn to blush.

"What would make you think that?" she asked him.

"Poe! He's hasn't shut up about you. He's driving everyone mad!" Finn laughs at how uncomfortable Rey looks. "He's convinced you're crazy about him."

"He's … nice." Rey said. It was all she could say, she didn't know what to say.

"Oh, nice, I'm sure he'll love that." Rey stands back up, determined to get away from this topic of conversation. She lungs forward with her staff and spins it above her head and strikes thin air.

"You really are quite deadly with that thing." Finn observes her moving.

"Doesn't matter, it'll be no use against a lightsaber." Rey sighs and drops her arms to her sides and faces Finn.

"Wait, what happened to yours?" She walked over to her bag and pulled out the two broken lightsaber halves. Finn's eyes widen and he looks from her to the lightsaber and back in disbelief.

"Exactly." Rey sighs.

"Can't you fix it?" Finn asked quietly.

"I'm going to try but even if I can, I'm no match for Be-Kylo Ren."

"You took him down on Star Killer Base didn't you?"

"Yeah but I caught him off guard. Everything I know about wielding a lightsaber I learned from him." Rey told him. Finn gave her a puzzled look.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"When he interrogated me, he was inside my mind and he'd left his mind open to me so I reached in and it's like I took his training. So no matter what I do, Kylo can always counter me because I'm using his moves." She slumped back down next to Finn and they sat quietly for a moment.

"If only you could turn your staff into a lightsaber, you'd be terrifying." Finn mused and Rey jumped up suddenly.

"That's it!" Rey started gathering up her bag. If she couldn't fix the lightsaber, she could change it! "Finn. You're a genius!" She grabbed his face and kissed his cheek and ran off. Finn rubbed his hand on his cheek and turned to watch her leave.

"Thank you?" As she ran off, Rey ran right into Poe with a thud.

"Oh! Sorry." She scrambled around him and ran past him too. Poe turned and looked at Finn, who grinned smugly at him.

"What was that?" Poe quizzed him.

"I'm a genius." Finn stated.

*****

She burst into his chambers, at least that's what it seemed like to him. She stopped suddenly when she saw him.

"Ben!" she yelped, realising her mistake she shut the door behind her before she spoke again. "What are you doing here?" her voice was lower now. Her cheeks were flushed pink and she was breathing heavy. He could feel her heart slamming inside her chest, it seemed to affect his heartbeat as it was starting to pick up speed.

"You're surprised." He observed.

"You shut me out last time, I thought you wanted nothing more to do with me." He scoffed quietly at this, the noise shocked her.

"It seems I don't have a choice in the matter." He told her quietly. He watched her look at him, genuine confusion on her face. It suddenly occurred to him how little Rey actually knew about her powers and the Force in general. He doubted Luke would have told her what was going on so there was no way of her knowing that they had a Force bond and just what exactly that meant.

"What's wrong Ben?" She approached him with concern, he didn't turn away from her but regarded her with seriousness.

"We have to talk Rey." He started out with coldness in his voice but it softened when he said her name. He found that he didn't sound like himself when he spoke to her. "And absolutely no one can know about this."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben trys to convince Rey that they shouldn't see each other anymore but a Resistance meeting instills Rey with a dangerous sense of curiosity.

He wasn't looking at her but she was looking at him, watching him, observing. It was like he was debating with himself over something, it was clearly causing him some turmoil, she could feel like radiating off him. She strained herself to see his surroundings, she'd found that when she concentrated on it she was able to see around him as opposed to when they simply reach out and they just find each other. He was in his chambers and she took in what she could about the place. It was so shiny. Everything about it so metallic and cold, a hard case he kept himself in. It looked so similar yet so far off from his room on the Falcon. Both of them were bare of his own choice, like that room was just a stopover and there was no need to settle in. The only difference was the small parental touches where Han and Leia tried to soothe their son with comforts, small photographs, handmade blankets, new clothes. It was undeniable that Han and Leia loved their son. Rey had never seen the couple together but the sadness in Leia's eyes and Han's final sacrifice to bring back his son was all she needed to see that they loved him so very much. Looking at the man in front of her now, she knew that he couldn't see that. See the many people that loved him.

"You can't do that. We can't." He told her flatly. He looked right at her now, nothing in his eyes.

"Can't? Can't what?" she asked him quietly.

"See each other anymore. You can see my surroundings now, as I can see yours." Rey had been too interested in observing his surroundings that she hadn't thought of him observing hers. It sent a chill down her spine and her eyes widened in fear. Fear for her comrades. Ben watched the realisation wash over her. "Exactly. It's best if we don't contact each other again, with us being on opposites sides of a war." He turned away from her now.

"It doesn't have to be that way though Ben." He flinched slightly at the sound of his name.

"No." he mused. "No, it doesn't. But we both know how you feel about that." There was an icy tone in his voice as he spoke and it cut through her like the sharpest of knives.

"I wasn't going to leave them Ben. They need me. There's people I care about here too." He scoffed at this. "What is that meant to mean?"

"These people, that you care about, give me their names." He turned to her and his expression betrayed him. He was angry.

"What?" Rey said incredulously.

"All these people, other than your general, the Wookie and the traitor, what are their names?" He waited for her to answer but she couldn't. She'd spent so little time with the Resistance, she hadn't actually introduced herself to any of them, remembering shying away from their content. She'd only met Poe but something told her that bringing up the Resistance hero's interest in her wasn't the greatest idea. "You can't do it can you?" He finally said. "All these people, you're risking your life for and you don't even know their names. You chose to go back to being lonely. Do you think that I can't see it? The lonely look in your eyes? I know that look, I have to see it every day in my own face but you chose this."

His words pained her. She knew what she had left behind when she chose the Resistance over him, she hoped that in the long run it would be the better option. Being on the side of Light until he decided to join her. What she hadn't expected was how hard it would be to wait. It was all she could do. She knew that all he had to do was choose the Light but her mistake was thinking that his choice was easy. Now, it was just waiting, long and painful waiting but if there was one thing Rey was good at, it was waiting.

She looked at Ben who had been watching the pain flood her body. He obviously felt it too and his face softened from hardened anger to something that resembled … remorse? He opened his mouth to speak but Rey never got to hear what he was going to say to her in that moment of regret, the door to her chambers flew open, she turned quickly to face the door and Poe swung in.

"Hey Jedi Princess, funnily enough I was actually out the woods looking for you when you kissed Finn and ran off! No hard feelings by the way." He said smiling at her. His smile dropped when he saw her. Rey spun around and searched the room, Ben was gone.

"You okay?" He asked her. Her face was pale and a wash of different emotions passed over her face. Panic, worry, sadness. She blinked fast a few times, as if not really seeing him there. A slow smile spread across her face.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. What's up?" She was smiling but her sadness was still there. Poe approached her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"Rey." He looked down into her face and she looked up at him. "What's wrong?" Her breath in hitched and her breath out was staggered and laboured.

"Nothing." She put one of her hands on Poe's hand on her shoulder. Poe knew that it wasn't nothing but pushing her to tell him wouldn't help. He pulled her into his arms and embraced her. She was stiff at first before relaxing and putting one of her arms round his waist. After a moment, Rey moved away, not forcefully or annoyed but Poe let her go, not wanting to push it. What uh, you said you were looking for me?" she said finally.

"Yeah, uh, Leia, General Organa, wanted me to bring you to the Resistance meeting in the War Room. If you wanted to come?" She nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Rey smiled and headed for the door, when she reached it she turned back to look at him. "You coming?" She left the room with such confidence, Poe wondered how far he'd follow the Jedi if she led him. Far, he thought, very far.

*****

He led her to the Resistance make-shift War Room. He mused to himself while they walked in silence. He thought about their embrace on the Falcon. He couldn't enjoy the memory. It hadn't been the way he wanted to embrace her for the first time. It seemed like she needed it though and it appeared to help at least a little, that he was glad of. If only she'd trust him with what burdened her. He motioned to the room just ahead of them and Rey stopped and grabbed his arm.

"Poe, don't let them tell me where we are. You can't ask why!" She stopped him, his mouth opening to ask why. Maybe she'd read his thoughts, a chill went down his spine remembering the last time someone was in his head. "I didn't read your mind by the way." His eyes widened at her.

"That doesn't make me feel better actually." He didn't want to scare her so he gave her a warm smile and placed his hand on the small of her back to usher her into the War Room.

They'd already started without them and at their immediate silence upon the pair's arrival, Poe felt Rey tense. He patted her back them moved his hand to take her hand and pulled her to sit with him.

"Sorry, we're late. We were held up by BB-8 telling us about his heroics, yet again!" At this little annoyed beeps perked up from around the table and BB-8 rolled up to Poe and rammed into his shin. "Oh, hey, BB-8." The group which included General Organa looked at Poe annoyed. He flashed them his brightest grin and sat with Rey.

"As I was saying before Commander Dameron interrupted with an obvious lie and Rey, welcome, our bread crumb trails are being picked up. Rey, we'd left obvious bread crumb trails to different locations though the Galaxy to see if the new Supreme Leader would pick them up immediately."

"How did you know about the new Supreme Leader?" Rey asked abruptly. Her question was directly for Leia, forgetting everyone else in the room observing them.

"Chewie informed me. I've long since learned not to ask a Wookie where he gets his intel." Leia exchanged a look with Rey and Rey reserved herself again. How did Rey know about the Supreme Leader? "It appears that the First Order jumped right on any chance to find us. We've had reports of First Order ships chasing these trails all over the Galaxy." A quiet murmur ripped through the group. "It gets worse. There has also been reports of the Knights of Ren gathering. Some have been seen chasing our trails but their main heading seems to be the Supremacy."

"The Knights of Ren?" Rey pipped up again, confusion on her face.

"They've existed for thousands of years," Poe explained. "Snoke had taken to training the most recent incarnation of them. Kylo Ren is the Master of the Knights of Ren because he's the strongest of them but they are all very powerful Dark Siders." Poe stopped when he saw the colour drain from Rey's face. He's blurted all this out forgetting that the Resistance expected her to defend them from the Knights of Ren.

"We don't know exactly how many there are of them and who the rest of them are. We've heard maybe 6 or 7 of them but they are very rarely seen and when they are they are always split from one another." The General continued.

"That and they wear masks." Poe shrugged. "Apart from the General, no one even knew Kylo Ren's identity until recently. The look on the General's face made him immediately regret his lack of awareness.

"There's more of him?" Rey asked quietly. The General looking at her concerned.

"I know it doesn't mean much but none of them are as strong as him." She tried to reassure her but it was obvious to everyone that it didn't at all. The fear drained Rey's face. Poe reached out and squeezed one of Rey's hands, she gave him a small bewildered smile, smiling as a reaction to the display of affection rather than actually meaning it. "As it stands, our plan was to re-fuel here and move on as quickly as possible but if our diverting leads are being followed so closely, I suggest we don't make real ones. We seem to be hiding rather successfully here on-"

"Well! I guess that means we're having a beautiful destination wedding! I'm a fantastic dancer by the way and I clean up gooood." Poe told Rey, he squeezed her hand and gave her a wink. Leia observed them but said nothing.

"Commander Dameron is correct. A lovely wedding will brighten all our spirits, I cannot comment on his dancing or cleaning up however." The group gave a small chuckle. "You're all dismissed." Poe stood up with Rey in tow. She turned to him and closed the gap between them.

"Thank you" she mumbled. He gave her a wink. He motioned to allow her to leave a head of him.

"Rey?" It was Leia's voice. "Can you come with me? I would like to talk to you." Rey visibly gulped and gave Poe a worried glance. Poe nodded at her and headed out the room. He shot a glance backwards and watched Rey and Leia walk off together, their expressions serious. He had so many questions. What had upset Rey so much? Why didn't she want to know where they were? What was with the knowing glances between her and the General? And when was someone going to telling him what was going on? He hoped soon, he wasn't used to being left out of the loop and he didn't want to have to go digging in the lives of the people he cared about.

*****

Leia invited Rey into her chambers and motioned for her to take a seat on the bed beside her. Rey takes the seat but remains wary. This can't be good. Leia looks at her for a moment before breaking the silence.

"What's going on Rey?" She asked her, her voice was both concerned and authoritative.

"What do you mean?" Leia didn't even answer her, she just looked at Rey and she knew that she wasn't fooling her. Rey dropped her head in her hands. "I don't know what to do! I thought I was doing the right thing but I don't know what that is!"

"What happened with Ben?" Leia asked quietly. She laid her hand on Rey's shoulder. Rey looked up at her, overwhelmed by hopelessness after finally admitting it.

"How did you know about Ben?" Rey asked her but before she could even respond, Rey knew the answer. "Chewie."

"Chewie" Leia nodded. Rey didn't know what to say. Did she finally get this off her chest, maybe get some answers? She couldn't keep it bottled up forever, it was eventually going to explode out of her in a situation far worse around people far less understanding. Leia was possibly the only person in the world who would understand and she was giving her a chance now to come clean and let it out.

"I can see him Leia. Ben. We can see each other and talk to each other. Snoke bridged our minds together to lure me onto his ship to get to Luke. He knew that Ben needed someone and that I would want to help him but … Snoke is dead. He is, Ben killed him. To save me. He's good Leia, he is, I felt it. I wanted to help him but he won't let me. I'd hoped he'd change his mind in time but I didn't know about the Knights. Now, I just don't know." Rey talked so fast and so much that she hadn't realised that she hadn't taken a breath since she started. She couldn't stop herself from talking now that she'd been finally given the opportunity. Leia however said nothing, she didn't even look at Rey anymore. She just sat there, taking in everything Rey had said, mulling it over. Knowing the enormity of the information she just bestowed on the General she didn't want to push her. It felt like hours before Leia spoke again.

"Do you realise the amount of danger this situation puts us in?" Leia stood up and paced slowly around her chambers. "I take it this had something to do with Poe's outburst in the meeting?" Rey nodded.

"Yeah, he was trying to hide our location from me so that Ben can't find out where we are."

"Does he know?" Leia asked her.

"No. He wouldn't understand. No one would." Rey admitted. She bowed her head and had sadness in her voice.

"I do." Leia told her. Rey's head snapped up, looking at the General surprised. She'd told her so much, most of it being so difficult to believe, that the fact the Leia understood was baffling. "I know there's still good in him Rey, I do. I just wasn't sure if I'd ever see it again. Not after … Han." Leia's voice hitched in her throat at the mention of his name. "He killed Snoke, not you?" Leia asked.

"No, Snoke lured me to Ben, to save him and when he found out that our bond was faked by Snoke, Ben killed him and saved me. We fought Snoke entire guard together … he wanted me to join him Leia. I wouldn't but I feel like we've lost him now."

We haven't. Believe me, Ben left me and his father behind a long time ago, if he wanted you with him, you're going be the only one that can save him." Leia's words hit Rey hard in her chest. It was so much responsibility, the fate of the Galaxy rested in her changing a man.

"What about the Knights of Ren?" Rey asked.

"We can't underestimate them. Ben is their Master and is stronger than any of them but not stronger than all of them together. You're his weakness and if they see that they could seize the opportunity to defeat him." Rey mind was spinning, so many things were up in the air. So many choices, so many paths to follow, so many of them out of her hands.

"What if I have to fight Ben?" Rey asked quietly. Leia made her way over to sit beside Rey. She took Rey's hands in her own.

"If it finally comes to that, we'll know what we tried everything to save him. Please don't give up on him yet." The General's eyes were pleading her. Rey felt the hope flowing between them, hope for saving Ben Solo.

"I won't" Rey told her more confidently than she'd thought possible.

When she left, Rey's mind was reeling. The Knights of Ren. Why hadn't he told her about them. Is that what he meant earlier about her risking her life for the Resistance? She was scared at the thought of them but she also felt … intrigued. She had to know what they were like, maybe if she reached out to him they'd be there.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey's curiosity leaves her facing Ben's wrath. Later, Rey and Ben share a life changing dream.

Rey tried not to run back to the Falcon but every moment she thought about what she was about to do, she picked up her speed. She had to do this soon before she talked herself out of it. There were more Force users out there, it wasn't just her and Ben. Unfortunately, they just added to her list of adversities that the Resistance obviously expected her to take care of. She owed it to herself to see what she was up against, to see them, the Knights of Ren. Curiosity and fear were fighting for control in her chest and she found that curiosity kept winning out, she didn't know if this was stupidity but there was only one way to find out. She was almost back to privacy now.

"Rey?!" a voice startled her out of her head. She halted mid-jog and looked around. Poe approached her slowly, it was dark outside now so Rey didn't see his concerned expression until he got much closer to her. "What's going on Rey? And don't say it's nothing, I know it's not nothing." Rey just looked at him, what else could she do? She was wordless. She didn't want to lie to him, his genuine concern made guilt wrack her insides at the thought of lying to him but she couldn't tell him the truth, he wouldn't understand.

"Poe." She stepped forward towards him slowly. She raised a hand to his cheek and rested it on his face. "Do you trust me?" she asked him quietly. He nodded gingerly, a long shakey breath escaped his lips.

"Yes." He breathed.

"Then trust me when I say that I will do whatever it takes to save the Resistance, I just … I can't tell you this." She dropped her hand slowly and smiled at him sadly. She went to walk around him but he grabbed her wrist.

"Rey, I hope you know what you're doing. Just … be careful." His voice was pleading, obviously upset that she wouldn't tell him what was going on and feeling hopeless to do anything about it. Rey patted his hand on her wrist softly and he let go. Rey finished her walk to the Falcon, feeling Poe's eyes on her until she was out of sight. It broke her heart to see the hurt in his face when he told her he trusted her but clearly she didn't trust him enough to tell him what was going on. His concern almost made her change her mind about what she had been planning to do but she had to see them.

She got to her make-shift chambers and locked the door behind her, she didn't want anyone coming in and distracting her, especially Poe. He could be the only one who could actually stop her. She didn't even bother turning the lights on, she closed her eyes and threw herself out into the Force, towards him. She would have to focus much harder than usual to see not only him but his surroundings and the people he was with. She felt his presence close to her, as well as 6 others. Darkness surrounded her. She opened her eyes and she was there. And so were they.

She observed the 6 figures shrouded in black, standing unmoving in the overbearing throne room that she'd laid waste to with Ben only a few days ago. The feeling in the room was unsettlingly similar to that day, tense and hostile. Rey approached the closest of the Knights. They were tall, she consciously referred to each of them as "they", she couldn't tell if they were male or female. This one was definitely tall, taller than Ben and he already dwarfed her. The Knight was broad, his stance was powerful and intimidating. His mask was the same as Kylo Ren's, they all seemed to have the same one. She looked to his waist and saw a lightsaber hilt attached to his belt. She stepped back and looked over the other Knights, they all had a lightsaber weapon of some form. The fear she should have had before was finally starting to creep up on her. Just in this room, there were 7 Dark side force users, all armed with lightsabers, one of which she no longer had. The Resistance expected her to deal with all of this.

What are you doing?! The frightening hiss in her head shook her. She turned to face him, having completely forgotten that she was using him to indulge her curiosity. She looked at the huge chair that was the main focus of the room but her main focus was him. He sat in his usual black tunic and cape, his leather gloved hands were balled into fists. She couldn't see his face though, it was masked but not the same one as his Knights, not anymore.

LEAVE! NOW! He screamed in her head. She looked around at the Knights to see if they'd also heard his outburst. They shifted ever so slightly, enough to terrify Rey into losing concentration. Her mind ricocheted her back onto the Falcon and she immediately crumpled to the floor. She clutched her knees tight to her chest, her breath shakily escaping her. That was too dangerous, how could she have been so stupid!

*****

How could she have been so stupid! Forcing her way into his life like that, in front of the Knights of Ren! And it was no accident, he knew that much. She hadn't even noticed he was there until he screamed at her. His Knights weren't stupid, they knew something was there. Her presence was like a bright beacon in the throne room, there was no mistaking it. She had no idea how much danger she put them both in. The Knights already were wary of him since Snoke's sudden death, they didn't believe that Rey had killed him, he knew they didn't. None of them had been brave enough to be insubordinate yet. Another incident like today however and it won't take them long to build up the courage.

He had left the throne room in fury after Rey had disappeared. He could feel the eyes on him and the pressure building. He needed to explode. He marched through the ship, tossing anyone who got in his way aside. People knew to avoid him when he was like this, anyone stupid enough to approach him deserved what they got. He went straight to his private training room and didn't even wait for the door to fully close before igniting his lightsaber and running it through anything and everything. WHY!? Why wouldn't she just get out of his head!? Why couldn't she leave well enough alone!? Why couldn't he shut her out!? His head throbbed.

He didn't know how long he'd been tearing the room apart but it must have been a while considering the state of the place. Kylo dropped the lightsaber on the floor and the blade retracted, leaving the hilt rattling by his feet. Breathing heavily, he took off his helmet and dropped that on the floor too. His hair stuck to his face matted with sweat, his breathing harsh and ragged. He was exhausted. Hiding Rey's presence had taken a lot of energy out of him, she'd grown so strong that her Light was difficult to mask. It wavered when he yelled at her to leave. He didn't know how much the Knights knew but they knew something.

Kylo headed for his chambers. He needed to block everything out, his own thoughts, the Knights, her. He needed his nightmares. He could count on them to take over his brain and tonight he would revel in the pain. He got to the dark room and kept it dark. He removed his boots and tunic and collapsed on his bed. Staring at the ceiling, his mind was overcome by thoughts of her … he begged for the nightmares.

His eyes were open, but … this wasn't from his memories. For starters, it was far too beautiful. He looked around him, he wasn't sure if he recognised where he was but it was indeed stunning. This wasn't a memory, not a nightmare either. He was on an island, small and rocky, mountainous. The ground was wet from rain but at the moment the sun was shining. The smell of the ocean was clear in his nose and the wind was brisk across his skin. All around him were small stone huts with thatched roofs. Where was he? He looked down at himself, he was wearing a light coloured shirt and a grey jacket. He pawed at his clothes confused, he looked like his father!

"Daddy!" a small voice yelled behind him. He spun around and saw a small raven haired girl running up the stone steps behind him.

"Be careful." A voice said back. It was his voice, he recognised it but he wasn't sure he'd actually said the words. The child launched herself at him and he picked the child out of the air and pulled her close to his chest. He looked down at the girl's face, she couldn't have been older than 7 or 8. The black hair, long face … she looked like him! Except … except, the eyes. They were her eyes. He stared at the little girl, like holding a ghost in his arms. She was Force sensitive, he could feel it. It was powerful, even untrained, it was powerful.

"Hannah Solo! What did I say about running on the steps when they are wet?!" His heart leapt into his throat at the sound of her voice. Rey. Solo? Hannah? Han? He looked up to see Rey coming up the wet, cobble steps with another child's hand clutched in her fist. A little boy staring at him from under mousey brown hair with black eyes. And Rey, she looked … different. Beautiful. Her hair was long, past hair shoulders and she was wearing a dark blue tunic draped across her body and a matching cloak wrapped around her shoulders.

"I lifted a rock daddy!" Hannah was talking to him. She clung onto his shoulders and he held her so tight, afraid to let her go. He couldn't remember ever holding something so precious to him.

"That she did, she's a quick learner. Just like mummy." Rey grinned at him now, her entire face beamed with pride and happiness. He put the little girl down at his feet, he felt weak and he didn't want to hurt her if he suddenly collapsed in shock. He was daddy and Rey … was mummy. It must be a dream. Rey's face fell when she saw the dumbfounded expression on his face. "Hannah, can you take Lukas the rest of the way home please?" The little raven haired girl took the mousey boy's hand and they walked off. He watched them go, dazed, until a hand softly cupped his cheek. "Ben." He snapped out of his trance. "What's wrong?"

"I love you Rey." Again, he heard his voice say the words but his mind hadn't processed them, a different Ben had. Rey smiled warmly at him.

"I love you too." She told him and she leaned up to him and kissed him. He was stunned but he didn't stop it. He didn't want to, he just wanted to enjoy being Ben Solo.

He jumped up, startled into consciousness. The darkness he sat in let him know that he was back in the real world. His heart was pounding in his chest and he couldn't catch up to his own breathing. The bed was damp with sweat, what just happened? Whatever it was, Kylo Ren was terrified.

*****

Rey jolted upright, panting. What was that? Surely it wasn't just a dream, it was too vivid. But she couldn't let herself think about what else it could be. If Snoke wasn't dead, she would assume he was behind it. It had to be a deception, what else could it be? She was shaken to her core, she had to forget it. It was obviously intended to get inside her head and mess her up and she couldn't let it. She leapt out of her cot and took off running down the narrow corridors of the Falcon and then out into the brisk morning air. She pushed the thoughts of a black haired child with her eyes from her mind, the only thing she should be focusing on was the Knights of Ren. Inadvertently meeting them had instilled a new fear in her. She was shockingly unprepared to go up against them and this was something she was determined to figure out.

Much to her surprise, most of the Resistance crew were already awake and busy. Rey stood still for a moment watching everyone rushing by her. More people to skirt around than she'd first thought. She shifted and slid past people looking for the one pilot that could help her. She found him easier thanks to the unmistakable beeping of his sidekick.

"Poe!" She yelled. The man turned around, his eyes darting around looking for her in the sea of people, when he saw her struggling to get to him, he chuckled.

"Hey beautiful, what can I help you with?! I do an excellent romantic-gesture, hero carry!" Rey bustled through the crowd and reached him and BB-8.

"Tools." Poe and BB-8 exchanged looks.

"I'm sure she didn't mean to be so hurtful BB-8." Poe said and patted his droid's head. Rey smiled and just shook her head.

"You have a set of tools?"

"Yeah, sure. What do you need?" Poe asked her.

"I don't know yet, best bring it all." She said.

"okay, uhh … do you want some help?" Rey smiled at him.

"I'd like that." Poe smiled back and her and grabbed a large bag and clanked loudly when he slung it over his shoulder. BB-8 started to roll away from them. "Ah, ah, ah! You're coming too BB-8!" BB-8 beeped excitedly at her and Rey winked at him and lead the way with the two of them behind her.

"No offense BB but you're really being a third wheel right now." Poe whispered down at the droid.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey enlists Poe and BB8 to help her rebuild her lightsaber.

Rey rushed back towards the Falcon, her two followers hot on her heels. Outside the old ship, Chewbacca had his own set of tools, as old and faulty as the ship they belonged to, strewn across the ground. The Wookie perked his head over the edge of the ship when he saw the three of them approaching. Rey pointed towards the tools around the ship and continued on without looking back.

"Put the tools there. Start bringing everything out, I need to see what I'm working with. I'll be right back." She said.

"I love it when she's bossy." Poe remarked to BB-8 and his was met with a loud Wookie growl in response. Rey heard him as she walked up the gangplank of the Falcon. She smiled. She got to the main hold of the ship and grabbed her staff, her bag and a small blade from Chewie's "secret" weapon cache. When she got back outside, she seemed to be interrupting a Wookie-pilot confrontation.

"Look, Rey told me to dump this here, okay?! Got a problem take it up with her!" Poe shot at Chewie. Chewie growled loudly back at him waving his arms at all the tools on the ground. "Oh, don't worry you'll know whose is whose. Mine were made this century!" Poe shouted back. Chewie swung for Poe and the pilot applied his great reflexes and jumped back, clanging into BB-8 as he did. BB-8 chirped loudly at Poe, rolling into his feet. Rey shook her head, they were acting like children. Poe wound himself up to spring at the massive Wookie but as he leapt, he froze in mid-air. Rey held Poe and Chewie where they were, unmoving. She left BB-8 alone but shot him a look that ensured that he didn't try anything. The two main culprits looked over at her guiltily.

"Finished?" Rey asked them as if she were separating two 6 year olds fighting over a toy. The two of them gave her a quick nod and she let them go. Chewie waved an arm at them and climbed back up on to Falcon.

"He started it by the way." Poe said to Rey. She raised an eyebrow at him and he looked guilty again. "So what do you need my NICE, SHINY TOOLS for anyway?"

"Finn gave me an idea. My lightsaber, it's gone. Snapped in two." Rey said. Poe's eyes widened.

"What? How did that happen?!"

"Doesn't matter." No. She wasn't telling him now. "But, I'm going to fix it … sort of."

"Sort of?" Poe sounded unsure.

"Yeah, I was telling Finn how I'm not as great at using a lightsaber as I need to be …"

"Okay, not making me feel better but continue." Poe interjected.

"However, he mentioned how good I am with my staff so I thought why not turn my staff into a lightsaber? Double ended and much easier for me to wield." Poe's face mused and then brightened.

"That's actually brilliant. Especially for Finn." Poe said giving her a quick smirk.

"Well, he just mentioned my staff, the lightsaber stuff was my idea." Rey said shyly. Was she bragging? It sounded like it. She mentally scolded herself, why was she trying to show off?

"Ah, well that makes more sense actually." Poe nodded smiling at her. "where do we start then?"

Rey took out the small knife and looked between it and her staff. She was scared. It was silly to be, she knew that. But if she tore apart her staff and this didn't work, she felt like she'd be losing part of her. She'd had so few possessions in life that giving one up was turning out to be quite difficult. She couldn't let it not work though. She needed a weapon, she would make this work! And then she'd have something so amazingly special, that was all hers. She took the knife and made 2 score marks around the middle of the staff about two feet apart. She made two more just over a foot from each end of the staff. She held it tight in her hand for one lest second and then threw it at Poe. He caught it in one hand and looked at the marks she'd made.

"Can you figure out how to cut those lines?" She asked. Poe held out the staff and examined it

"I'll do my best but the metal seems quite robust. Might need to get BB-8 to use the torch on it." Poe mused. He didn't sound like he was actually talking to her, more talking himself through it.

"Actually, I was hoping BB-8 would help me." Rey looked at the little droid hopefully. He rolled up to her and beeped happily. She reached into her bag and pulled out the two halves of the blue lightsaber. "Can you fix this back together?" BB-8 rolled around looking at the lightsaber in her hands. He beeped back at her. "That's fine. I'll have a look at the inside, if you can put the outside back together?" He beeped happily back at her. "Thank you." BB-8 extended 2 of his arms and held the two parts of the broken lightsaber. He extended another arm that produced a hissing blue flame and held it up to his project. Sparks started flying from the broken hilt and Rey shielded her eyes. "Please!" Rey burst. BB-8 stopped and looked at her. "Please be careful with it." BB-8 nodded. Rey joined Poe now, trusting what was left of her lightsaber into BB-8's tiny little arms. He'd been scoring at the lines she'd made on the staff with a small file.

"How are you getting on?" she asked quietly. He looked up and smiled.

"I think I've weakened it. One good hit with brute force should shatter it." Poe told her.

"May I?" She asked Poe, he held the staff out to her. Using the Force she whipped the staff out of his big hands and slammed it against a massive rock nearby. Poe was right, it shattered into 5 pieces. Poe stood looking at Rey amazed as when walked over to what remained of her staff. She picked up the middle piece and tossed it aside. She grabbed the other pieces and brought them back over to Poe who looked at them puzzled.

"It worked but it all the pieces seem a little short to work as a staff now." Rey smirked at him.

"I wanted it to be extendable." She said.

"I think we can do that." Poe said grinning.

The entire day passed without the three of them noticing. They worked hard but happily. BB-8 seemed excited that they needed his help the most. Chewie offered his help on occasion but they quickly found that Chewie became too involved with the project the more they let him intervene, much to Poe's dismay. Rey was pleased though, she needed all the help she could get. She was perfectly capable of doing things like this on her own but her experience lay in patching up old broken things just enough to sell them. This couldn't be a patch up, it had to contain the power of a lightsaber, that crystal. It had to be perfect. She had worked her magic on the inside of the saber's hilt. Matching up blown and burnt out wiring, using BB-8 to help solder bits and pieces back together. The extendable mechanism of the staff worked, if a bit structurally rickety but she could fix that later. For now, she just wanted it to turn on. Her two comrades gathered on either side of her to see the fruit of their labour. Even Chewie's interest was peaked. She held her new staff out at arms lengths and pressed the release. The two ends shot out and clicked into place with a snap. Poe was grinning, clearly pleased with his efforts. Rey gave him a quick smile.

"Moment of truth" she said. She took a deep breath and pressed the button to ignite the staff. They all held their breath, if it was even possible for BB-8 to do that he was doing it, and they waited but nothing happened. "No." Rey breathed. Her eyes went wild looking over the staff and turning in her hands. She pushed the trigger button on the old lightsaber handle which was now the centre of her new staff, the two extendable ends attached to both ends of it. She pushed it repeatedly and still nothing happened. "No, no no!" her voice angry. She threw the staff and it clanged off the side of the Falcon. She dropped to the ground, her head in her hands. "Why didn't it work?" she said quietly. Poe sat down in front of her.

"I don't know Rey, I have no experience building lightsabers. Would the General know anything about it?" he asked.

"I don't think so, she never had one. Luke was the only one of them to become a Jedi." At this BB-8 piped up. He rolled over to her and started beeping excitedly. "Really?! Of Master Luke?!" Rey perked up, she was becoming as excited as the droid. "Yes, yes, please show me!" She said. BB-8 turned away from her and he projected an image into the air above them. Rey and Poe sat and watched. They saw a young man, blond and dressed in black, alone in a sand stone cave. Rey's heart fluttered when he spoke, it was him, it was Luke. She looked at the young man being shown to her. He was handsome. It was so hard to picture the stony faced, old man that she had known as this.

"See you on the other side R2." Luke said, looking straight at them. He smiled, his eyes sparkling.

"BB-8 must have downloaded this from R2's memory bank." Poe said, realisation dawning. BB-8 beeped angrily at him. "Alright, alright, I'm watching." They sat and watch as young Luke sat on the floor of the cave, crossed his legs and shut his eyes. It went quiet. After a moment or two, when they realised Luke wasn't going to say anything else, Poe spoke quietly.

"What's he doing?"

"He's meditating." Rey responded to him quietly, thoughtfully. She watched Luke intently. So did Poe, which meant they both reacted when they saw a small sparkle in Luke's hands.

"What was that?!" Poe asked. Rey grinned at him.

"It was the crystal." She said. Rey leapt to her feet and ran over to grab her staff. She opened the handle casing and pried out the crystal inside. She swooped down and planted a kiss on BB-8's small metal dome. "Thank you." She sprinted off into the Falcon as fast as she could.

"Great, first Finn, now you!" Poe said to the little droid.

*****

Poe followed Rey, it was getting to be a habit, following Rey. He'd noticed it, Finn had noticed it and even Leia was starting to make comments about it. Poe didn't want to admit it but there was a reason her was so enamoured with her, other than the fact that be found her stunning. The reason was too dark to share with anyone but there was a reason he was so reckless and confrontational. A reason why he felt like he needed to be a hero all the time and it was because ultimately he'd felt hopeless. The Resistance was dying out, some of that was his fault, he knew that, he carried it with him every day. There was a time where the entire Resistance wouldn't fit in this paradise hideaway as they did now and it tore him up inside. The hope was dying out. They needed a hero, he'd tried to be it and it was always in vain. And then there was Rey and she breathed life and hope back into the Resistance. Poe needed it in his life too.

"Rey!" he called after her. He assumed she'd went back to her chambers. He didn't like that room, it weirded him out and he had no idea why. He opened the door and she was on the floor, sitting in the same position Luke had been and she held the crystal from the lightsaber in her hands. He knelt down in front of her, taking her in. She was so powerful, he could feel it. He looked down at her hands, the crystal, it was cracked. He dropped his head. "Rey." He whispered.

"Shh!" Rey hushed him.

"Rey. The crystal … it's cracked. This might not even work." He said to her softly. His voice conveyed his disappointment.

"I have to try!" Her eyes flashed open. They were angry. "I know. I saw it when I held the crystal. I try to try though. This can't be it." Her eyes softened when she looked at him. They were apologetic and scared. He nodded and walked over to the cot and sat down.

"Okay, let's do this."

"What? What are you doing?" Rey asked him.

"I'm staying with you." He told her. She smiled at him and he gave her a smirk. "Provided I still get to go eat and stuff?" She closed her eyes again and began to meditate. "I'm taking that as a yes by the way." He said quietly.

He sat there for a long time. A really long time. Being so far in the ship, he didn't know exactly how long he'd been there but he knew it'd been a while because he was hungry. Rey had remained unmoved the entire time, she wouldn't notice if he stepped out for food. He opened the door and snuck out the room slamming directly into Finn. He looked at him for a second, watching him sneak out of a girl's room in what he assumed as the dead of night.

"What the hell is this?!" Finn said aggressively. Poe shushed him and shut the door behind him. "Care to explain yourself?!"

"She's meditating with the crystal." Poe said. Finn said nothing. His face clearly not expecting this explanation or understanding it either. Poe sighed. "We fixed up her lightsaber but it didn't turn on. BB-8 showed her some footage R2-D2 had of Luke meditating with his crystal and she trying that now. The crystal … it's cracked though."

"What does that mean? Will it even work anymore?" Finn asked.

"I don't know but she's determined to try."

"Okay, I get that. What I don't get is why you're still here." Finn eyed him suspiciously.

"Luke looked pretty out of it when he was meditating and according to BB-8, it went on like that for days. I thought someone better stay with the "Last Jedi" while she's deep in a trance and unable to defend herself." Poe said, defending himself now. Finn thought on this for a moment.

"Fair enough. As you were." The two men nodded at each other.

"Hey, be a buddy and bring me some food would you?" Poe asked Finn, slapping him hard on the shoulder. Finn glared at him.

"Fine. But only because you're babysitting my best friend." Finn said before leaving. This was even better. If someone was bringing him food, he could look after Rey properly. He wouldn't leave her side.

*****

Rey's eyes flashed open, she felt like someone had just dropped her there from space. Her body and her head hurt and before she could think about anything, her body collapsed under her.

"Rey!" She felt a pair of hands shaking her. "Rey, Rey. Come on, look at me." She didn't feel like she's closed her eyes again but forced herself to look, her eyeballs burning as they turned in her head. "Rey!" It was Poe, he'd gathered her up in his arms and was stroking her hair out of her face. She felt so exhausted, it had been a long day.

"How long have I been out of it? I'm so tired." Rey asked, her voice was rough and croaking.

"4 days." Poe told her.

"What?!" Rey jumped up, or she tried to at least. Her body gave in.

"Wow, wow. Calm down. You must be exhausted, please just sleep." Poe scooped her up and ushered her towards the cot.

"No. I have to train. I've lost too much time." Rey pawed at him trying to get away.

"Rey, you'll lose a limb or worse if you try to mess about with a lightsaber in this state. Please, rest." He pleaded with her. "You can train tomorrow." Lightsaber! The crystal!

"Poe! The crystal, where's the crystal." She looked around the floor panicked.

"I've got it. You dropped it when you fell."

"Take care of it Poe." She pleaded.

"I will. Just sleep." He assured her. Rey nodded, her eyes closing. Her head felt heavy, her eyes burned. She lay her body down on the cot, before she could even appreciate the comfort, sleep took her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey's new lightsaber isn't what she's hoped but she'd been given a very important job at her comrades' wedding and her and Poe share the day. Ben's detest for the Resistance pilot grows.

Her eyes darted around wildly underneath her eyelids, images flashing by. She didn't know if the Force had been showing her these images or if it was parts of dreams. She'd been so in tune with the Force over the past few days that she didn't know. But she couldn't escape the images, Kylo Ren removing his mask for her, Ben holding his lightsaber pointed at her chest, him kneeling in the cave while they escaped. It was showing her something, moments where Ben Solo's light came through, showing her that he's still there to be saved. She also kept seeing the little girl with her eyes and the little boys with his eyes and she wondered if this was part of the message too?

When Rey woke up, her entire body ached. She tried to sit up but her body fought against it. She felt breathless, winded but she was determined. If just meditating did this to her, she worried what more would do. She turned over and looked around the room, he was still here. Sitting on the floor, his head on his knees asleep.

"Poe." She whispered. Her throat hurt. It had been 4 days? That's what Poe said, she hadn't eaten or drank anything the whole time. Now that she thought about that, she wondered how she woke up at all. His head popped up.

"Hey, how you feeling?"

"Hungry." Rey croaked. Poe let out a small laugh. "Did it work?" she asked him quietly.

"Don't know, thought it was best if you found out. We put it back together but that's it." Poe told and handed her her staff, now only about a foot and a half long and … really beautiful. The metal hand been cleaned and was now shiny. All the new joints seemed strong and sturdy instead of loose. It was sleek and stunning, Rey loved it.

"It's … it's different." She said confused.

"Yeah, apparently Chewie thought a Jedi's weapon shouldn't look so 'ramshackle' I think was the word he used, he fixed it up for you." Poe said looking embarrassed.

"I quite liked our ramshackle one." Rey said smiling at him, he gave her a small smile back. "But this one is gorgeous."

"Yeah, it is." Poe admitted.

"Can you help me up?" She asked him softly. He got to his feet and put his large hands under her elbows and slowly lifted her off the cot. Her joints ached as they bent and straightened. She looked right at him now, he looked tired. He gave her his usual smirk.

"Let's get you some food." He said. He wrapped his arm around her waist and helped her to the door. When they reached it, she stopped him.

"I have to know." She held out the staff. "Please. Don't stop me." Her face was so close to his, he just watched her.

"Okay." Smiling gratefully, she removed his arm from around her and nodded at him. He was reluctant to let her go the way she was, she could see that. But he did because she asked him to.

She pushed herself, pushed her body to move, get past it's exhaustion. She needed a safe space, somewhere she could be on her own to witness the end result of all this pain she was in. She headed towards the forest, to her clearing. She pushed herself off the trees as pasted them, using them to keep herself upright. When she got to the clearing, she found it wasn't clear anymore. There were huge tree trunks lined up in neat lines with a path lined with delicate flowers down the middle. The path ended with an archway made of branches, vines and flowers. She had never seen one as beautiful as this but she knew what it was none the less. It was set up for a wedding.

She rested herself on one of the tree trunks and looked at the beautiful staff in her hands. She had never owned something so beautiful and she did own it, it was hers and no one else's. Made for her, the crystal inside resonating with her. She clicked the catch that controlled the extendable ends and they shot out and snapped in place with a loud, reassuring click. The ends didn't move or wobble as they had done before. She reminded herself to thank Chewie later. Her staff about now about four feet long. Shorter than what she was used to but she needed space for the lightsabers to ignite out the ends without doing herself an injury. She turned it over in her hands for a moment, bringing herself to push the button in the old hilt in the middle. This had to work. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and pushed the button. It ignited, she could feel the power of it vibrating in her hands but something wasn't right. She'd expected the low hum of the blade but instead she heard it crackling and buzzing. When she opened her eyes she expected to see blades of bright blue light but that's not what she saw. She dropped the staff and it hissed as the blades burned the grass around it. After a moment, the staff turned itself off and Rey scooped it up before anyone could see. What had she done wrong?

She flicked the latch that made the staff shrink back down to its standard foot and a half length and she clutched it tight to her chest as she sprinted hard back to the base and onto the Falcon before anyone could stop her or even see her. Her lungs were burning fire as she burst into her little chambers and she came to a halt when she saw Leia there waiting for her. Leia's eyes widened in surprise when Rey came bursting in and Rey could do nothing but stare at her. What could she do, she certainly wasn't going to tell the General of the Resistance what just happened. Leia's face softened into concern.

"I was going to ask you what was wrong but I get the feeling you don't want to tell me." Leia said. Rey still said nothing. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Poe was concerned." Leia's words hit her like a punch in the gut, there were people that cared about her here and she'd betrayed them. "Come, let's get you ready."

"Ready? Ready for what?" Rey asked. Her silence giving way to confusion.

"We're glad you came back to us when you did, Carr and Lieutenant Lisbon's wedding is today and you have a very important job for it." Leia said.

"I do?"

"They've asked if you would officiate their wedding, being the Last Jedi and all." Leia gave her a small smile, obviously trying to make her feel comfortable enough to take on the job. It wasn't working.

"Me? But I don't know anything about that, I've never even been to a wedding." Rey sat down on the cot, all the running and lack of eating was catching up to her. "Can't you do it?" She pleaded with Leia.

"I'm giving the bride away." She told her, sitting down beside her. "Rey, you can do this. This is your chance to show people that there's no reason to be scared of you."

"They're scared of me?" She sounded … a little amazed actually. She'd spent a lot of her life being scared of strangers that people being scared of her sounded ludacris.

"You have to remember Rey, very few of them have any experience with Force users beyond Ben. That scares them. Show them the Light in you." Leia tried to reassure her but her guilt was gnawing at her insides. "So, first we'll get you fed and then cleaned up for the wedding."

*****

Poe was nervous. He hadn't seen Rey since she left this morning and she was in a bad way. He should have never let her go on her own. His worry was only multiplied when he got to the clearing and saw scorch marks in the grass. She'd been here and the staff had worked but something about it didn't make him feel better. Poe paced around as people made their way past him in the clearing to find places to sit amongst the tree trunks. Some of them shook his hand and some didn't, he didn't really notice or even care. Finn came bustling up to him, he was wearing Poe's old jacket but he'd obviously tried to clean it up and bit and he had on his nicest shirt. Poe was dressed much the same, his nicest clothes. They were nothing compared to the wedding clothes on Naboo or Canto Bight but many of them didn't have nice clothes set aside for things like this. Leia had kindly donated a dress from her youth to the bride for the event. She was the only one who had nice things like that, she may be their General but Leia still dressed like a Princess just as she had done long before Poe was even alive.

"Did you find her?" Poe asked Finn.

"No. No one's seen her but she probably wanted it that way." Finn told him.

"That isn't reassuring Finn."

"I know but I've got nothing else." Finn shrugged defeated. The groom had appeared by the altar and the people around them started to quieten and take seats.

"Okay, go sit with Rose. After this is over with we'll go find her, okay?" Poe said to him, ushering him over to where Rose sat.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay." Poe took a seat too. Near the back so he could scan the crowd in front of him in case she'd slipped by him. Leia emerged from the trees, the bride on her arm. As they reached the beginning of the aisle, everyone stood and turned to look at the bride and the General but something in the corner of Poe's eye caught his attention and he turned and looked the opposite way from everyone else. It was Rey. But Rey in a way he could have never have pictured in his own mind. She was beautiful. She was always beautiful but this, was different. Leia had clearly worked some magic on Rey because instead of her usual sand beaten wrap across her tunic, she wore a long, blue coat. The bottom of it fell like a dress with slits all the way up to her hips, her grey bottoms showing through the gaps. The top buttoned up the front, with a wide collar showing off a necklace of silver squares linked together around her tanned neck. Her unmistakable scruffy grey boots sticking out the bottom. Poe couldn't take his eyes off her. She looked nervous, she had no reason to be. She had never looked so powerful as she did up there in front of the entire Resistance. The bride reached her groom and Leia gave her a kiss on the cheek and sat down at the front. The crowd sat down, their murmurs silencing and Rey cleared her throat to speak.

"Hi. Um. I don't really know what I'm doing but the bride and groom requested that I officiate their wedding today and I'm so honoured and thankful that they wanted to include me in their special day. However, I will keep it short so I don't mess it up" a small chuckle rippled through the crowd as Rey paused and took a deep breath. "I don't know much about love, I'd never really experienced it before and it around much back where I'm from. From what I'd learned through Master Luke, the Jedi thought of love and marriage as a weakness. Something that was there to tempt you to the Dark Side. So much so that entanglements were forbidden in the Jedi order. You see, I was trying to learn the ways of the Jedi but this was something I just didn't understand. Since being here with you all, what I've learned is that love isn't a weakness, it's strength. You all love and care for one another so much that even though there has been so much loss, the Resistance is still so strong. And it will always be if you let love be a strength. I guess that's what I want for the couple here today. However hard it gets, however scary, heart-breaking or messed up it gets, remember that your love is your strength, it's your comfort, it's your home. Take these rings to remember that and nothing can break you." Rey held out two rings to the pair and each of them took one. "Do you take each other for as long as you live?"

"I do."

"I do." The couple smiled at each other placed the rings on each other's hands. They looked at Rey expectantly.

"Oh, by all means, kiss your bride." She said and the couple embraced causing the crowd to stand up and cheer. After a moment or two, Rey spoke again. "Now that I have you all standing, please be aware of the logs behind you." Rey raised her hands and all the tree trunks that had been lined up neatly were raised into the air and moved to the edges of the clearing. She was amazing, in two seconds she'd undone 4 days of the Resistance moving and hauling massive logs. The crowd applauded Rey now. A couple of Resistance members started up playing some music and people started to dance. Poe moved through the crowd, heading straight for the Jedi in the blue coat.

"You're looking much better, one might even say stunning." Poe told her on approach. Her cheeks flushed a light pink.

"Yeah, I don't even know how I made it through 4 days. I could barely move this morning. The outfit's a bit much but who am I to tell General Organa no." Rey smiled slightly.

"I'm glad you didn't, you're really something." Poe said. All he wanted to do was tell her how beautiful she was but he was worried that he was making her uncomfortable. He held out his hand to her. "Will you dance with me?" Rey's eyes widened.

"I, uh. I don't know how." Poe smirked and took her hand.

"I'll show you." He swooped her out into the crowd and stood in front of her. He put her hand on his shoulder and took her other hand. "Put that there and put these hands together. You can even put your head on my shoulder if you want to get flirty." He winked at her.

"Poe." She said in a warning tone.

"Alright, alright. I'm kidding. Kind of." He put his hand on the small of her back and pulled her close to him. They swayed slowly. "I liked your speech. You seem to know a lot more about love than you think you do." Poe said.

"Apparently. I didn't know what to say and Leia gave me some really good advice." Rey said looking up at him.

"And what advice was that?" he asked, trying not to sound too eager.

"She told me to think about someone I care about and what I would want to tell them." Poe nodded softly.

"That was some pretty powerful stuff you wanted to say." He said.

"Isn't that the idea?" She asked him. He nodded. "If dancing is just swaying, I think I'm going to be pretty good at it." She said. Poe nodded.

"Yeah. Eventually, the music will slow down and we won't look like such idiots." Rey laughed.

*****

Dameron. Kylo was getting sick of the sight of the pilot. Every time he saw Rey, the pilot wasn't too far behind. He'd felt her a lot recently. He'd been trying to avoid her. Between her showing up in front of the Knights of Ren and his dream about her, he didn't know how to be around her. Was he still angry with her? Or was he feeling something else? Her presence had been in the Force for days and the first time he'd reached out to her, he'd understood why. She was meditating with the crystal, she was fixing the lightsaber. A strange pang of pride came over him, she was figuring it out. She didn't need Luke, she was doing everything on her own. Except she wasn't, Dameron was there. Day and night, he was there, like a lost pet. Kylo tried to ignore him, several times he'd sat down with her and urged her to keep going. When her strength wavered, he provided her with his. She needed to know that she could do this. But Dameron's insistent presence was infuriating him.

Now here he was, watching Rey. He had to admit to himself that she was beautiful. No one could deny that. But his fury burned in him as he watched her swaying in his arms. And the thing that angered him most was that she hadn't even noticed he was there.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey confides in Leia. Ben's jealousy causes a rift between him and Rey and Rey's anger at him is manifested in a deadly way.

Rey still wasn't sure about this, but Leia was right. The couple had been so generous in asking her to perform their wedding and it was least she could do. Rey knew that a lot of the Resistance didn't trust her, this could be the way to bridge those gaps, finally find her place within them. The other thing that Rey wasn't so sure about was the clothing the Leia had kindly donated to her. The blue coat was beautiful, there was no denying that but Rey had never worn anything so extravagant in her life and it made her feel odd. The feeling that she got from Leia's happiness superseded that though. Being a princess with one son had obviously left a mark because she treated Rey like the daughter she never had. They had spent all day in Leia's chambers with Leia dressing her up and doing her hair, Rey couldn't take that away from her. These simple moments of joy were so few in the General's life now that Rey wouldn't be the one to ruin it. At the same time, Rey's mind was overflowing. So many things had happened that she couldn't sort out one without thinking about another. She had to get some of it out and Leia had told her that she could trust her didn't she? No judgement she said? Leia was in the middle of braiding Rey's hair back from her face while Rey sorted through the jumble in her head trying to decide what she should and shouldn't tell the General.

"My mother taught me how to braid my hair like this. My adoptive mother anyway, I never met my birth mother." Leia told her. "I'm glad I get to teach you Rey." She admitted. Rey smiled and relaxed a little. Leia was trying to cement the bond they had. Show Rey that she could trust her like family.

"Leia?" Rey spoke so quietly she wasn't sure if the Princess had heard her until she replied.

"Yes, Rey?"

"I think I had a vision." Leia's hands paused in her hair. "Maybe it was a dream, I don't know what's what anymore."

"Do you want to tell me about this vision?" Leia asked her. She was eager to hear, Rey could tell but she was holding back, trying not to force Rey into it. Rey nodded. Leia continued to work on Rey's hair, attempting to make her feel as ease. Nothing about this was easy to say.

"I was back on Ach-to. It was just like I remember. Ben was there too." Rey paused to try to gauge the reaction of the General. She stopped for a second, as if his name made her flinch. Rey wasn't sure if this was the best idea anymore but she'd already started and she had to get the next part out of her head and into context. "There were … children there too. There was a little girl, she looked exactly like Ben, black hair, pink lips. But she had my eyes. And a little boy, who looked just like me but had Ben's dark eyes. Hannah and Lukas were their names." Leia took in a sharp breath and stepped away. She sat down on a chair next to Rey. "He told me he loved me." Rey admitted. Leia looked at her, her eyes a mixture of hope and sadness. "And I told him that I loved him." Rey heard her voice falter and dropped her head into her hands. Leia put a hand on Rey's back and rubbed slow circles to comfort her.

"Rey. Look at me." Rey looked up at the Princess. Her face had changed from heart-broken mother to reassuring General. "Listen to me Rey. Jedi visions of the future are like the future themselves. IT's always changing, so a Jedi's vision is never certain. It's just one of the many possible outcomes. There are many other versions of the future where that won't happen, if that's what's scaring you." Leia told her.

"I'm not scared of it." Rey said so confidently. She didn't seem to sound so defensive but being faced with the idea that she was scared of this outcome made her want to defend herself. "If anything, it gives me hope." Rey said, softening her tone.

"Hope?" Leia asked.

"If there's a possible future out there where Ben comes that far back into the Light, then there's any number of other possible outcomes where Ben Solo is saved." Rey told her. "I don't think the Force would show me this for no reason, I think it's telling me that although the future is uncertain, the Kylo Ren we see now has it in him to become that man." Leia smiled warmly at Rey. "I'm going to bring him back to you." Rey told her. Leia let out a small laugh.

"Rey, I think when Ben comes back into the Light, it's not going to be for me. It's going to be for you."

"Maybe. But he has to do it for himself." Rey said finally. She let out a long sigh, her head felt somewhat clearer, less heavy.

"If you weren't scared by your vision, why do you look so relieved?" Leia asked her.

"I feel like I'm betraying everyone. Especially Finn and Poe, none of them would ever forgive me if they found out that I care for Kylo Ren." Rey admitted sadly.

"Rey, the entire Resistance now know that I care for him and I'm their General." Leia said smiling. Rey couldn't help but return the smile. "In caring for my son, you're going to save him, them and the entire Galaxy. They might not understand yet but they will." Leia held Rey's hands in hers. Rey couldn't remember ever being comforted like this. Having so much fear and doubt to have someone lift it off her shoulders. Was this what having a family was?

"My next problem is that I have no idea what I'm going to say for the wedding. I don't have any experience with love." Leia laughed at her.

"Rey, having you been listening to a single word you've said? You love a great deal. Love isn't just romance. It's your friendship with Finn and Poe, it's me and Chewie, it's what you had with Han and Luke and it's even what you feel for Ben. It's all love my girl, you're full of it. Use it." Rey smiled at her.

"But what do I say exactly?" Rey asked her.

"My advice? Would be to think of these people you love, or even just one of them and say what you would want them to know. What you would want to tell them."

"Thank you, Leia." Rey said. She was genuinely so grateful. She didn't know how she would get through all this without being able to tell Leia these things.

"No Rey. Thank you. You've brought a spark into my life that I haven't felt in a long, long time. Thank you for telling me about your vision. No matters what happens, I'll always know that there was a future that created the most beautiful children in the Galaxy." Leia stroked Rey's cheek softly. "Now let's get you ready. I have a necklace that will be perfect for you."

She hadn't really planned what she was going to say when she got up to the altar. She hoped the words would come when she got there. As she spoke she thought about the people she loved. How meeting Finn changed her life and showed her how amazing it was to have someone to care about. She thought about Han Solo and how much she wanted to make him proud and how heart-breaking it was to lose him. She thought about Luke who wasn't what she had expected but had been exactly what she needed. She thought about Leia, a mother figure in her life but also a strong role model. She thought of Chewie who accepted her into his life and trusted her so wholeheartedly. And she thought of Poe. Who immediately made her feel special and accepted. Who supported and helped her even though he barely knew her. But mostly, she thought of Ben and desperately hoped he could hear her.

Dancing with Poe was … strange. For starters, she'd never danced before. So the experience itself was entirely new. But it was also the way he looked at her. She'd seen him look at her that way before. Like she was the last sip of water on Jakku. She was his last hope and he clung to that. She'd wished that she could look at him the way that he looked at her. Being with Poe felt so easy, natural and she'd found herself thinking how much easier things would be if she hated the bad guys and loved the good. But it wasn't that easy and it was never going to be. A feeling suddenly flooded her chest and it was powerful, it felt like … rage. Just as quickly she realised it wasn't hers, it was his. Over Poe's shoulder she saw him watching her, feeling his anger at her. No, she wasn't going to deal with this here.

*****

He waited for her in his chambers. He knew she'd come after watching her detangle herself from Dameron's arms. She'd left him to stew in his anger while he waited for her to come back when she deemed herself ready for a fight. It wasn't like he'd sought her out this time, he'd realised that since her meditation, they didn't have to purposefully reach out to see each other. It was more like they always had one foot in and one foot out of the Force, always with each other but still far apart. This was proven when suddenly she was there in front of him. His anger flared up as suddenly as she had, so much so that he didn't even know where to start.

"I'll be honest, when you said you said you had people you cared about, the pilot didn't even cross my mind." Kylo spat out at her. Rey's expression, that was originally one of slight concern, quickly turned to disgust.

"You know what, I don't know why I thought this was a good idea, forget it." She turned away from him and he felt her fading.

"No, no. Really. Tell me how Dameron is worth being on the losing side. I'm genuinely interested." His words were vicious. He could taste the venom in them as they lashed out. Rey turned back to face him. She was angry now. Kylo could feel her fury.

"Poe has nothing to do with this." Rey shot at him. "Actually, that's a lie. Poe is one of many reasons why I'm on the right side." Her admittance of Dameron's worth to her only added fuel to his fire. "And I will not let you use him to hide your insecurities!" Kylo was struck into silence. She strode right up to him and stared him right in the face. She was about a foot shorter than him but you'd never think it, the way she squared up to him. She wasn't afraid of him. He wondered, if she didn't fear him, what did she feel? Disgust? Pity? Something else entirely? Looking at her he wasn't sure what he felt himself.

"My insecurities?" He challenged her back.

"You think you're so Dark Kylo Ren." He was so used to Rey calling him by his old name that when she called him Kylo Ren, was like a punch to the stomach. She wasn't saying it to please him, she said it to hurt him. "But you're much more like the Jedi than you think. You deny yourself attachment out of fear of what it might turn you into. All I wanted was to help you and you turned your back on me. And that's made you weak Supreme Leader." Her words were laced with hurt.

"No!" Kylo yelled. Rey didn't flinch, not even slightly. "You turned your back on me! I killed my Master for you, I offered you everything! I offered you the Galaxy!" He didn't mean to sound so pathetic but he couldn't stop. His betrayal was finally voicing itself and it hurt. Rey's anger dissipated and turned to something that resembled pity. Kylo would rather she looked at him in anger than pity.

"I didn't want the Galaxy." She said quietly. "I just wanted Ben." His breath caught in his chest. He'd waited his whole life to be actually wanted but the man Rey wanted wasn't him, not anymore. And when she looked at Kylo Ren, wanting Ben, it killed him.

"Ben Solo is gone, Rey." He told her. The corner of her lips curled upwards ever so slightly.

"No. He's not." She said certainly. As he looked at her, he saw something else too. Images passed through his mind, images of him. She was in his head, showing him memories she had of him. The first time she'd seen his face when he'd removed his mask. When he'd offered to teach her. The time that he admitted to her that he was a monster. The way he looked at her after he killed his Master, waiting to see if she'd turn a fight with him. When she'd left him behind on Crait. All the moments that he'd given in to weakness, she'd seen Ben. "I haven't given up." She said finally. "I'm waiting." She told him.

Waiting. He remembered himself waiting on her, while she was meditating. Him sitting on the floor crossed legged with her. His hands over hers as she grasped the crystal. Sharing his strength with her, long into nights, for days. He'd forgotten that she was in his head until she gasped.

"You." Her tone was accusing. "You did it, it's your fault!" She retreated from him. Her eyes wide as she stared at him, now there was fear in them. "You've done some terrible things but I didn't think you'd go this far!" With that she disappeared. Kylo was used to being hated for things he'd done, she was right, he had done some truly horrific things and people hated and feared him for it. But this time, he didn't know what he had done.

*****

Rey needed to blow off some steam. She was furious, how could he do that to her! He waited till she was weak and defenceless and he took advantage of it. She'd seen it in his head, she didn't think he'd meant her to. He sat with her for hours, pouring his essence into her as she bonded with the crystal. She grabbed her staff from where she'd hidden it away in the main hold of the rusty ship and marched outside. She barely made it to the edge of the landing pad that housed the Resistance's remaining ships before she extended her weapon and struck and tree. The wood splintered loudly and it creaked and groaned until it crashed to the ground. She'd gotten stronger, good, she thought. She whipped the staff around taking out more trees.

"Whoa, hey, what'd those trees ever do to you?" Poe said. He'd clearly noticed her anger because he approached her hesitantly.

"I just need to vent." Rey told him.

"I can see that." He replied. "But wouldn't be better if you actually fought something that could fight back?"

"Are you offering?"

"Maybe." Rey regarded him. No, it wouldn't do.

"Come back with some more guys and then it'll be an even fight." Poe scoffed at her bravado. She hoped he would be deterred but evidently not. He put his hand to his mouth and made a loud whistle. Three Resistance pilots who had been looking over the ships that they'd scavenged looked up at him.

"Hey! Wanna fight a Jedi?!" He shouted over at them and they replied in amused agreements. He looked at her with a smirk on his face and cocked an eyebrow at her. As the pilots approached, they picked up bars and pipes and they tossed one to Poe who had removed his jacket. Rey twirled the staff in her hand slowly as the four men surrounded her. She turned, looking each one over, sizing them up while she waited for one to make the first move.

When he did, the man ran at her intending to strike her with the metal rod in his hand but Rey swiftly whipped the staff under the man and he crashed to the ground. This was going to be easy. The three other men all charged her. She whipped and spun her staff, continuously knocking them backwards or to the ground. Each blow seemed to goad them into hitter harder, attacking faster. Expect Poe, he was just grinning wildly, clearing enjoying himself. She wasn't at all inhibited by her fancy clothing either, actually the opposite. The slits in the blue coat gave her the freedom she need to kick, run and jump as she needed. She wondered if Leia would let her keep it. As the pilots got more confident in their assaults, Rey found she was having to work harder to keep them at bay. She opened herself up to the Force, allowing it to flow through her and give her strength. It allowed other things in too. He was here, watching her. She didn't know where he was and she didn't want to look, she couldn't be distracted. Why couldn't he just leave her alone to be angry at him?! She immersed herself in the Force and found herself hitting faster, stronger. Allowing it to descend over her like a dark mist. She moved so fast now that she was barely aware of her own actions. She was only snapped out of the haze when she heard Poe's fearful cry of her name.

When the darkness faded, all she saw was Poe at her feet, his eyes staring up at her in terror. A hissing, sparking purple blade of light an inch from his throat.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben realises that he and Rey are more similar than they know. The festivities come to an abrupt end with Ben making an interesting choice.

Kylo had always been prone to fits of rage, even as a child. When he started showing his strength in the Force, that's when his mother and father started becoming concerned. Concerned and then scared. When he became too much for his parents and they shipped him off to his uncle, the legendary Jedi Master who had "saved" Darth Vader, his anger deepened. Fuelled by the abandonment by his Rebel Hero parents, being unable to please his uncle and the growing fear and sadness inside him, he was starting to realise that he was tapping into something Dark. Snoke had noticed that too. Whispering to him at night, encouraging him more and more to channel his rage and combine it with the Dark side's power to make him stronger. He knew that when the dark mist descended on him, how to wield it and how to channel strength from it. Now witnessing it from the outside was surreal for him.

When either of them used the Force, it became easier for them to see each other. It took no effort, like falling asleep. He only saw the situation from the point where Rey started using the Force to help her. Although, it didn't look like she needed it. She was impressive, of course he knew that already. He'd seen her fight before, she had burned through her share of Snoke's guards with lightsaber stylings reminiscent of his own. It hadn't escaped his notice. He had a theory about that and it starts back on the very first day he met her. She'd seen more in his mind than he'd thought, taken his training, turned it back on him on Starkiller Base. Now, this was different, it was all her. Her new weapon was impressive, not only had she fixed the lightsaber, she'd made it her own. He now understood what had upset her. The lightsaber's new double blades weren't blue anymore there were a bright purple.

Kylo watched her easily swat the Resistance flies off her, including Dameron. Watched her swivel her new toy around her as if it weighed nothing at all. Watched as that familiar mist started to descend on her. He was gripped. It surrounded her, penetrated her. She fought back harder, the men hit the ground harder. She moved faster, the men didn't see her coming. She became fiercer, the men retreated. Kylo watched it build within her, the good and the bad, the blue and the red, the Light and the Dark. Both sides raging inside her, making her so powerful, to the point where she had her lightsaber at her darling pilot's throat. It seemed that while Rey brought out the Light in him, he brought out the Dark in her. The corners of his lips crept upwards into a ghost of a smile. It was an intriguing notion in its own way.

"Sir?" He was snapped back into his reality. Infuriating! He really wanted to see how things were going to play out. Rey had to realise now that she didn't belong with the Resistance. There was only one place she belonged.

"What?" He snapped. He turned his head to the door to his chambers as it opened. A stormtrooper stood in the doorway. He was scared. Kylo could feel it.

"Uh … General Hux has called a meeting. He's asked for you to attend … as well as the Knights of Ren."

Kylo rose furiously and grabbed his mask. A new creation of his own. It was customary in the Knights to remain masked and he was still their Master. He was. He was also Supreme Leader. So why was Hux summoning him to a meeting. His rage built as he stormed to Hux's lair. He'd be sure to let that imp know exactly what he thought of his meetings. He marched in and was face to face with the smirking face of the biggest waste of space he had ever had the displeasure of meeting.

"Ah, Supreme Leader." Hux snarked. "I have some news that you will be pleased to hear."

*****

"Rey!"

Poe was frozen, whether it was out of fear or self-preservation he didn't know but it was all he could do as he stared wide eyed up at Rey. She didn't even look like herself, not the blushing, beautiful person he'd come to know but instead much darker. Her eyes hooded as she stared at him with a snarl on her face. She held the hissing staff at his neck as he held his breath in case he took one too deep and got himself killed. The lightsaber, it was purple. He was sure Finn had told him that it was blue. Could they just change colours like that? Was it a bad thing that it had changed? Poe had no idea about these sorts of things but we wondered if it had something to do with the Rey that was looking down at him now. He could feel the gazes of the other men on them. As they got to their feet they stepped back, their fleeting trust in Rey disappearing.

The fury in Rey was fleeting as well. He watched as the anger drained from her eyes and now she looked down at him with a fear that mirrored his own. Her staff powered down and he let out his breath. It retracted back down to its portable size and she dropped it onto the ground beside him. She looked at her empty hands now, as if they'd taken on a life of their own and betrayed her. She shook her head and started stepping away from him.

"Rey …" Poe spoke softly now as if he were trying to calm a frightened animal. He reached his hand toward her while trying to get up slowly. It was difficult, she'd done a number on him. The other guys probably felt the same if not worse. Didn't matter away, he didn't get far.

"No!" she snapped. She held out her hand at him and he couldn't move. He was held there, mid-rise, unmoving. "I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm so sorry." She turned quickly and sprinted off into the trees. He was held frozen until she was completely gone and he dropped onto the ground.

"Poe!" The 3 pilots ran towards him. "Poe, are you okay?" A short pale man held out his hand to Poe and Poe grabbed his arm by the elbow and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

"Yeah, Ziff. I'm fine. Did you see where she went?" Poe started off towards the trees. Ziff pulled him back by his arm.

"You're not going after her are you?" Ziff looked dumbfounded. Poe was more confused why he thought he wouldn't.

"Of course I am. She's scared and needs help."

"She's dangerous Poe!" He exclaimed. "She almost killed you."

"But she didn't!" Poe shot back. "I have to find her. Don't tell anyone what happened here." He picked up Rey's staff, turned away from the 3 men and headed off into the trees. He trusted all 3 of those pilots to have his back when they went into battles, he hoped he could trust them with this too.

He sprinted out into the trees before realising that he didn't know where Rey would have gone. Her usual hiding place had a wedding party invading it so where else would she have gone? She's terrified, that was obvious. She wouldn't be going anywhere near people. Poe headed in the opposite direction from the lively wedding crowd and into the quiet of dense trees and thick grass. He walked silently through the trees, looking for anything that would tell him where Rey had gone. Until, something caught his eye. The smallest thing but he saw it. A rock, no bigger than his fist was hovering an inch off the ground.

"Rey?" Poe said softly.

"Stay away!" He heard back. He headed towards her voice. He stopped suddenly when he reached the source of her voice. In front of him was a dome of floating rocks, moving around each other, fitting together, making a perfect protective shell. Poe had never seen anything like it in his entire life.

"Come on Rey, I'd like to come and talk to you, if I could get in." Poe said to her. She squeezed her eyes shut and tucked her head to her knees that she was hugging to her chest. He was trying to keep his voice light. He wasn't using his usual charming, carefree tone, it was forced. Why was he even here? He should be running in the opposite direction from her, she nearly killed him! She lifted her head and held her hand out in front of her. She splayed her fingers and the rocks ahead of her did the same, creating an opening in her dome in which she could see Poe. He watched as the rocks floated around him and he hesitantly approached her. He dipped down to sit in her little cave with her and she closed the rocks around them, sealing them in. "This isn't unnerving at all." He said to her. He placed her staff on the ground in front of her.

"I'm so sorry Poe." Rey said, her voice breaking. "I don't … I don't know what happened." Poe put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault." He told her quietly.

"Of course it was."

"You don't even know what happened, how could it be your fault?" He questioned her and she didn't know how to answer him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I don't know what to say. I got angry and it was like it suffocated me." She admitted.

"What made you so angry?" Poe queried. Rey bit her lip. She couldn't tell him that. What could she say? That she had a connection to their enemy? A connection so strong that they could talk and see each other, touch each other? See each other's surroundings, that at any point the Supreme Leader could use their connection to hunt them down? That his Darkness seemed to be infecting her? She cared about Poe and she was sure he cared about her, even after everything that happened but he wouldn't understand this. "Rey, I know you're hiding something. You and Leia. I've tried to keep out of it, hoping that one of you would tell me eventually but I feel like I'm owed an explanation now." 

*****

Rey felt guilt set in.

"Poe … I…" She started but she stopped when she felt his familiar presence on the edge of her mind. He felt hesitant but also forceful, he wanted to be seen. She threw her hand out and the rocks around them followed her motioned and crashed against the trees that sheltered them. Poe jumped away startled and Rey stood to face him but he wasn't looking at her.

"I see." He said bluntly. He had his mask on and he spoke flatly but not to her. Confused, she focused in using the Force to see his surroundings. Her eyes widened when she saw who he was with. In a dimly lit and metallic room, around a large table sat 6 Knights of Ren, several Stormtroopers and across the table from her was General Hux. Rey didn't like the look of him. She knew of him but had never met him but something in his eyes unnerved her, he seemed unhinged. Rey stood behind Ben watching the scene as if he were protecting her from them. Hux grinned as he started to speak.

"Yes, with repairs to the Supremacy still ongoing, it will take us a little longer than usual to get there but the Resistance are unaware of our assault so that shouldn't matter. Finally, we can end this."

"No!" she whispered. Rey placed one of her small hands on his back and he seemed to flinch. "Ben, please." She begged. He turned to face her now, she felt his gaze on her even through his mask.

"Rey?" Poe's voice cut through. She couldn't respond, not now.

"Forget the Resistance." Ben said.

"What?!" Hux exploded.

"Bring me the girl." Ben responded calmly. "Without their Jedi, the Resistance will die a painful death. Get the Jedi."

"Thank you." Rey whispered up at him.

"Go." He said. "Go now." He commanded. The Knights around the table stood up and started to leave. Rey was the only one that knew he was talking to her. She turned on her heels, swiped her staff off the ground and broke into the fastest sprint she could push herself to do. Poe was following her of course but she left him behind in her wake. She didn't stop until she got back to the clearing where everyone was still enjoying the merriment of that day. Rey couldn't believe it was still the same day. When she entered the clearing, many people turned to look at her as she fell to her knees, panting.

"Leia!" The crowd parted making a path for General Organa who rushed to Rey's side. "They've found us. They're coming." She forced the words out through gasping breaths. Leia only had to look into Rey's eyes to know what she meant and that it was true. Poe burst onto the scene, gasping for breath

"What was that Rey?!" He yelled. Leia stood up and faced him.

"Poe get everyone and everything you can find on the Falcon. We don't have much time. They're coming for us." Poe's reaction turned deadly serious as he started grabbing people who weren't already on their feet and shoving them out of the clearing. Rey watched the hustle of the crowd and rose to her feet to stand with Leia.

"Ben. He warned me." Leia squeezed the girl's hand and headed off with her crew. Rey didn't tell them about the catch. That it was their freedom for her capture, Leia wouldn't have gone through with it, Poe definitely wouldn't have. Instead she searched the crowd for a familiar face.

"Finn!" She screamed when she finally saw him. He saw her and made his way towards her, grasping her for a tight hug when they reached each other. "Finn, I love you." She said into his ear before letting him go.

"Rey?" He said confused. She gave him a sad smile as she secured her staff across her back.

"Go help Rose and Poe, I'll be right behind you." She urged him forward and they started to follow the crowd heading in the same direction, back to their hidden base but once they were immersed, she went the opposite way. Once she broke into the tree line, she began running. She was tired but she had to push through. She channelled the Force, begging it for strength to help her get away. She was given strength but it wasn't the Force providing it, it was him. She welcomed it, she was going to need it. If the Resistance was to survive, she had to be as far away from them as possible. Fuelled by the power of Kylo Ren, she ran.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey becomes familiar wih her captors and Poe finally learns the truth.

Kylo retreated to his chambers as quickly and subtly as he could. Rey using his strength to escape was going to weaken him so he needed to get to privacy as soon as possible. Hux had left with the Knights to ensure the capture of her. He had insisted that this task was below the duties of the Supreme Leader. Kylo knew why he'd pulled rank, the task was below Hux's station also but Hux was so transparent in his glee at being able to apprehend the last Jedi unsupervised. It had irked Kylo to let it happen but what could he do without raising suspicion. Besides, he knew that Rey could handle someone as feeble as Hux. When he got back to his chambers, he took off his mask to take ragged, deep breaths, as if it were he that was running for his life. He sat down slowly, he was starting to feel drained. She had been running since his meeting with Hux, between overseeing the plans for their departure and going over orders to apprehend Rey and only Rey, by this point Rey would have been running for hours.

"Thank you." He heard her cut through his thoughts. Her voice ragged like his breathing.

"Don't thank me yet. You're on your way to be taken prisoner by the First Order." He told her.

"To save the Resistance. Thank you isn't enough." She said quietly. "Do you really think they'll lose without me?" She asked him.

"I don't know to be honest. They survived before you, they might not need you as much as they think they do." He told her. He was trying to make her feel better about leaving. It was the only way she'd be able to save them, if she stayed, they'd be killed on the spot. This way, they at least had a chance. "They won't survive now if you don't get further away from them." He said.

"I know but I'm tired. And so are you, I can feel it." She told him. She wasn't wrong, he was exhausted.

"I'm fine. Keep going."

"They'll be here soon won't they?" She asked him.

"Yes. Not long now." Kylo felt a sudden heave in his chest as Rey channelled him to burst off into a brutal, last attempt sprint. The sudden depletion of energy caused Kylo to fall back onto his bed and all he could do was lay there panting as Rey used up every piece of him.

He was still trying to convince himself that this was a good idea. Letting the Resistance go was starting to sound insane and to say that Hux was angry about it was an understatement but Kylo outranked him. Rey said 'please'. She had begged him and he did it for her. It was a rash decision, he'd been making a lot of them recently where Rey was concerned. What was he even going to do when he got her here. He was Force bonded to her now, that was serious. If she died now, it would leave him with an empty wound inside him that would never heal and he was barely hanging on as it was. She didn't know this of course. And he wasn't going to tell her because there was only one way he could see out of this. Rey would have to kill him.

She was as strong as him, she could deal with the Knights of Ren and Hux would be nothing. With him gone, she'd achieve everything she wanted, the Resistance would win, she'd save everyone she loved. He was the only thing that stood in her way and he wasn't going to tell her that severing the bond like that could have serious consequences. This is what needed to happen, she'd be doing him a favour, it was the only way out of his misery.

"They're here. I can feel them." She said finally. His eyes snapped open. He hadn't realised that he'd even closed them. He felt her stop running and he used whatever energy he had left to focus on seeing her. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her hair had fly away tendrils around her face. She saw him too, and from the look on her face he must look terrible. He focused on her surroundings, she stopped in an open expanse of grass and flowers and saw the familiar shuttle descending from the sky to her location.

"Rey!" Both Kylo and Rey turned at the familiar voice.

"Poe!" Rey screamed. "No! What are you doing?!" Dameron came bursting through the foliage towards her and she ran to meet him before he broke the treeline.

"What are you doing?!" He screamed at her. "How could you leave us like that?!"

"I had to! Please! Go far away from here!" She begged him. "Please I have to do this." Kylo tried to remain calm, any outburst of emotion from him might give his presence away to the Knights that were en route.

"Rey" He got up and walked over to her and put a hand on her arm. "If he doesn't leave now, he'll die. You've to be captured alive but I can't guarantee that for anyone else."

"Please Poe. You have to leave. NOW." Her voice was filled with panic as the black First Order shuttle came closer.

"I'm not going anywhere without you!" Poe shouted.

"Please trust me" Rey begged him. They looked at each other for a moment. Kylo stood watching them, hoping the pilot wasn't as stupid as he seemed.

"What are you talking about?! Are you insane?! You're not going anywhere!" Rey put her on Poe's face and smiled at him. Poe seemed to calm slightly. Kylo balled his hands into fists watching them.

"Poe. I'm sorry." She waved her hand at him and Poe fell unconscious to the ground. "I have to get him out of here." She grabbed Poe's ankles and dragged him into the trees. She looked at Kylo, her emotions wracked with guilt.

"You're doing this to save them Rey."

"I know." The huge shuttle came in to land kicking up the wind around her. She stood facing them, strong and steady.

"Rey. I have to leave you now." Kylo said to her quietly.

"I know." She said. She didn't look at him now, she was watching the shuttle in front of her open up and Hux came strutting out into the field grinning. He wanted to stay with her but he had to leave now.

*****

Poe jumped awake. He knew exactly where he was, he was on the Falcon, in Rey's room. He wasn't confused, he knew what had happened, he had no memory loss. And her was furious. He leapt off the bed and picked up a chest that sat at the end of the bed and launched it against the far wall. He stormed out into the ship's old corridors and came face to face with the Resistance's entire crew, cramped into the ship's main hold.

"Where is she?" He yelled. Everyone turned to look at him, their faces a mixture of fear, surprise and anger.

"She sold us out Poe!" Ziff declared. "She told them where we were and left with them. I told you! I told you she was bad news!" Poe darted right at the pilot, his hands out to grab him by his collar. He raised his fist to hit Ziff when Finn grabbed Poe by his arms pulled him backwards.

"Enough!" Leia shouted. "They were coming for her, if she hadn't left they would have gotten us too. So you should be thankful for her Ziff." She told him angrily.

"She's probably working with them! Why else would she leave with them willingly?!" He said back loudly, trying to make sure the rest of the crew heard him.

"Rey would never work with Kylo Ren!" Poe shouted at him. "Tell him General." Poe waited for Leia to reiterate his statement but when nothing came he turned to look at her. "Leia?" She looked at him sadly.

"Poe, we should talk." She looked at the crowd watching them. "In private." Leia held out her hand to lead him away from the crowd. They had started to mumble amongst themselves. He could hear what they were saying. They thought Rey was a traitor. They she'd given their location to the First Order. That she was working with Kylo Ren. She wasn't. She couldn't. She had been hiding something from him though, was this it? That she was going to betray them? No. Leia knew her secret and she wouldn't have kept this. Leia lead him back to Rey's little room on the ship and she closed and locked the door behind them once they were inside.

"What's going on Leia?" He demanded.

"Rey didn't betray us. I just want you to know that." She started.

"Is she working with him Leia?" He asked. No more stepping around the subject. Leia pursed her lips, she doesn't know what to say Poe thought. His stomach dropped.

"Not working with him, no." She said finally.

"Then what?!" He snapped. Leia came in to comfort him.

"They have something. Something special. They're not working together but they're not against each other either." She said still making no sense.

"They have something special?" Poe asked her. Leia looked at him unable to respond. "Does she care for him?" he asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Does he care for her?" Poe asked.

"I think he cares for her more than he's ever cared about anyone." Leia said thoughtfully. Poe watched her as she sat down on the cot. She seemed … pleased. Disgust twisted in his gust.

"You're happy about this!" He snapped again.

"Of course I am Poe. Rey could be the only one to bring back my son and in turn I think he'll give her everything she's looking for." She said a small smile curving at the edges of her mouth.

"I can't listen to this." Poe said. "She's lied to us! Lied to me!" Leia looked at him annoyed.

"Can you really blame her Poe? Look at the way you're reacting. She just wanted you all to accept her and you never would have if you knew that they could see each other."

"They can see each other?!" Poe exclaimed.

"Yes. They're bonded in the Force. Through it they can talk, share emotions, thoughts, see each other and if it's strong enough interact with each other." Leia explained.

"What does this even mean?!" Poe didn't know what to make of any of this. Was Kylo Ren using the Force to manipulate Rey? He must be but Leia seems so sure that he cares for Rey. How could a monster like that care for anyone?

"It's a special connection, if one of them were to die, the other would be lost from heartbreak. It's hard to explain that kind of bond to people outside of the Force." Leia said trying to explain on Rey's behalf. Poe felt like he had been punched hard in the gut. All this time, she'd hidden this. "She will be the one to save us all Poe. And I like to think that Ben will be by her side when she does. For now, we're off to see an old friend of mine. He'll be able to get us what we need to end this."

*****

Rey had stood silently waiting for her capture. Held out her arms to be restrained. Was led onto the First Order shuttle with no fight. She allowed Hux to look at her the way she usually wouldn't allow any man to. She was a model prisoner. She didn't want to do anything that would tempt Hux into betraying his leader's orders. She stood in the hold while the General paced around her. The way he smiled smugly as he eyed her made her sick, if she were anywhere else she would have done some serious damage to him.

"Well," he said gleefully. "It seems we've caught you on a good day. You almost look as if you're not scavenger trash from Jakku. Playing dress up with the princess were we?" He eyed her clothing, too enthusiastically for her liking. He was attracted to her, she could see that but his thirst for power seeped out of him, he was desperate for it. He raised his arm and struck her hard across her face with the back of his hand. It didn't really hurt, he was a weak, feeble man but her delicate body betrayed her. Her lip was bleeding. Drawing blood from her made him grin. "There, that's more like it scavenger." The Knights of Ren seemed to close in around him. He leaned in close to her and put his mouth beside her ear. "That was for my Supreme Leader." He whispered.

"You have a Supreme Leader. Or does you envy make you forget that?" She spit back at him. The General's face twisted into a snarl and he raised his arm to strike her again but the blow never came.

"The Supreme Leader wants the girl unharmed. Follow his orders or we will make you." One of the Knights spoke. They held out their hand towards Hux's arm, holding it frozen in the air above his head. His face raged as he struggled against the Knight's hold, only when he stopped fighting them did they release his arm. The Knight was defending her but that did nothing to ease her discomfort in their presence. Everything about them was unnerving. Their masked faces, their modulated voices, their advanced weapons. They really were a force to be reckoned with. Hux settled and looked at Rey calmly for a moment before giving her another fast swipe across her face. As he did so, the Knight from before struck him with a bolt of blue lightning. Hux's body went spinning across the hold, striking the far wall before slamming to the floor. Rey stared at the Knight, her body frozen in fear. Such a small flick of their wrist had caused so much damage, what could they do if they really tried. The Knight stepped towards her and Rey flinched as they grabbed her arm. "Let's go."

The Knight led her to what would be described as a holding cell. Really, it was a small storage room with a good lock on the door. The Knight shoved her through the doorway and followed her into the room, locking the door behind them. They had just said that she wasn't to be harmed but that didn't make Rey feel any better about being locked in a tiny room with one of the most feared people in the galaxy. The Knight grabbed a chain that was attached to the wall and walked over to Rey and attached her to the chain.

"Why do you let him treat you like that?" the Knight said. Rey was taken aback. The Knight addressed her in such a casual tone.

"I'm sorry?"

"You're strong. I can feel it. Why do let imps like Hux strike you like that when you can dispose of him with a flick of your wrist?" The Knight held her chin between their thumb and first finger, tilting her head to assess the damage to her face.

"I didn't want him to change his mind and hurt my friends." Rey said softly, her voice shaking. The Knight turned away and picked a small box off a nearby shelf. They opened it and took out a small piece of white fabric.

"That's not our orders. The Knights of Ren wouldn't allow him to disobey the Supreme Leader's orders." The Knight told her. They took the fabric and used it to dab away the blood on Rey's lip. "It'll heal." They said.

"You're loyal to him aren't you?" Rey asked.

"Of course." The Knight responded quickly. Too quickly.

"You don't seem entirely sure." Rey noted.

"I am loyal to my Master, Rey." The Knight said. "He saved me. I was Dark, I had no place in Luke Skywalker's temple. Master Kylo released me of that. He gave me a mask, a place with the Knights of Ren, a purpose."

"Why do you wear masks?" Rey asked, her curiosity overtaking her sense of self preservation. The Knight looked at her for a moment before speaking again.

"They provide us with anonymity. We can take them off and be anyone, anywhere in the galaxy. No one would know who we were." They said. "Plus, it provides a certain level of intimidation." The Knight reached their hands up to the base of their mask and it clicked. The Knight's mask hissed as it opened up and they pulled it slowly off their head. Rey was surprised at what she saw under the mask. A mass of fiery red hair fell across a beautiful freckled face. A girl's face. Rey hadn't expected the Knight to be female never mind one so beautiful. "See, much less intimidating." She girl spoke with a light, angelic voice, nothing like what the mask made her sound like.

"You know my name but I don't know yours." Rey ventured. The girl eyed Rey for a moment, trying to decide whether to indulge her or not.

"Serafin Ren." She said finally.

"Is that your real name?" Rey was pushing her luck, she knew that.

"As far as you'll ever know." Serafin told her. Rey was worried that she'd taken a step forward and two back. She thought keeping the situation civil was the best course of action. A change of subject.

"How did you do that?" Rey asked her. Serafin's eyebrows knotted confused.

"Do what?" She asked.

"That thing that you did to Hux, with the lightning. Will you teach me?" Rey asked her. Serafin gave the smallest of chuckles.

"The last Jedi wants to learn a Dark side trick. Isn't that interesting."

"Will you?" She asked again.

"I don't know if I can." Searfin finally answered. "Force lightning is a manifestation of darkness. You have to channel your Dark side, turn it into a physical entity and release it in a burst." She explained. "I don't think you have that kind of darkness in you." You'd be surprised, Rey thought. "We won't get back to the Supremacy for a while, better get comfy in here." Serafin put her helmet back on and turned to leave. "Oh and steer clear of Goran, the tall one. He's Master Kylo's right hand and he doesn't like you."

"Does that mean you like me?" Rey asked.

"I'd like you more if you didn't let petulant man-children walk all over you." She told her.

"I don't" Rey said defiantly.

"Prove it next time." Serafin said before opening the door and leaving. Rey relaxed when the door locked behind her. Prove it she had said. Rey closed her eyes. Channel the darkness and release it, that's what she needed to do. As she focused on the darkness swimming inside her, she tried to grasp it and pull it out of her. The tiniest of sparks tingled on her fingers tips.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey takes a stand against Hux and forces Ben to make a decision.

When the door opened again, Rey was greeted by two masked black figures. She didn't know if one of them was Serafin but they were so imposing that she thought it best not to risk it and be too familiar. They marched into the small storage room and hoisted her to her feet and frog marched her back out. She was taken to the ship's bridge, Hux stood there waiting and behind him Rey could see their shuttle was entering the landing bay of a massive starship, the Supremacy. Hux stood firm and smirked slightly at her as she was brought to him, surprising considering one side of his face was starting to bruise from being thrown around earlier. He didn't say anything, just looked at her, smiling at her swollen lip that he'd given her, clearly unaware of how much worse off he looked. The shuttle swopped down to land and when it did the walkway extended out and touched down on the shiny surface of the Supremacy.

"Bring her to my personal interrogation cell." He commanded before turning swiftly and marching off the shuttle. "And don't inform the Supreme Leader of our arrival just yet." He shouted back, a dark tone in his voice. Rey's elbows were scooped up by large gloved hands, both figures that walked alongside her now were much, much taller than her so she assumed that neither were Serafin, who was shorter. She didn't know what the General had planned for her but she tried to keep what Searfin had said to her in her mind. That she was powerful and strong and that there was nothing that Hux could do that she couldn't defend against. As she was taken through the identical corridors of the ships she passed hundreds of Stormtroopers. She tried to make out what they were thinking as she passed but there were so many that it was all garbled noise. One thing that she did manage to make out though, only because she heard it so frequently, was that they thought she had killed Snoke. Murderer, killer, monster. She'd heard them all, ironic coming from First Order Stormtroopers she thought. It was clear that Ben had made it known that it was her that had dispatched of Snoke, not him. I suppose he would have had to in order to claim to the title for himself. When it came to Ben, Rey didn't know what was going on anymore. At one point she'd been so sure of his future, his intentions but he'd still wanted the power. But it was him who asked her to join him, it was him who'd helped her fix the lightsaber, it was him that had spared the lives of the Resistance. Those moments of him were only for her though. Here in the First Order he was the Supreme Leader, ruthless, fearsome and powerful. She had to get through to him somehow.

Her reverie came to an end when the Knights slowed in an empty corridor and opened a heavy door at the end of it. Inside was a body length restraining contraption, one she was familiar with from previous interrogations, and the Knight very firmly strapped her to it. It wasn't long before she was joined by Hux and the door was bolted behind him, leaving the two of them alone. Rey felt unnerved, not from fear but that fact that Hux's presence just made her uncomfortable, he wasn't pleasant to be around. Slimey and snake-like, the way he looked at her made it a hundred times worse.

"Rey." He purred her name and it made her shudder. "I wish I could say that it's a pleasure to have you back on the Supremacy but the last time you were here, you killed the Supreme Leader." Rey didn't respond to him, she just watched him. "Except, it wasn't you that killed him was it?" He asked. Rey kept her face blank of any expression. "It was Kylo Ren, wasn't it?" He smirked at her. He leaned his face right into hers, his smirking face filling her vision.

"I killed Snoke. Not Ben-Kylo Ren." Rey bit back at him, her teeth bared at him.

"Ben?" He questioned, his expression angry. "When you speak about him you almost sound affectionate." He watched her for a second to see if she'd confirm or deny it, she thought it best to do neither, sure she'd betray herself. "Something is going on, between you and Ren and you will tell me what it is." He demanded firmly. Rey scoffed.

"I don't have to tell you anything. There's no way you could make me." She was defiant and she loved the feeling. Feeling strong and unstoppable.

"I will use force if I have to." He replied flatly.

"You can try." She told him. He slapped her hard across the face like did earlier, opening her cut lip back up. She felt a warm drip trickle from her lip down her chin. It didn't hurt her but it angered her. He was a cowardly, pathetic man, hitting her only when she was restrained, too scared to fully face her. She was going to show him that she could still beat him restrained. She reached out and delved into his head, searching through the memories and thoughts of the man before her. They seemed tainted and shadowed, by Ben. Hux lived in fear, awe and envy of Ben and no matter what he did he couldn't seem to step out from under him.

"You're pathetic." She said. Hux had raised his hand to hit her again but he stopped, rage seeping out of him.

"Excuse me?" he hissed.

"You're pathetic Armitage Hux. Spending all your time trying to get Snoke's praise and approval and it was all for nothing. Even when Snoke was alive you could never measure up to him, the great Kylo Ren."

"Shut. Up." He hissed again.

"You have all your armies and weapons and yet he could wipe you out with a snap of his fingers if he wanted. Nothing you did ever mattered to Snoke as much as Kylo's power did and nothing you do ever will." Hux dropped his hand to his belt and whipped out his baster and pointed it between her eyes. Rey didn't flinch, she wasn't scared, she smiled at him now. He was as weak as she thought. "Do it." She said. "Unless you're afraid of the Supreme Leader's wrath." She tormented him. He stared at her for a moment, his eyes filling more and more with fury, knowing that her goading was working on him. His finger pulled the trigger and Rey used the Force to deflect the blast that now sliced through Hux's First Order uniform and his pale flesh on his arm.

"Arghh!" He screamed. He pulled the gun back up to her face in order to try again but he smirking expression cause him to pause, he knew that she'd do the same again. He strapped the gun back to his waist and stormed to the door. He threw it open and regarded the Knights that waited outside.

"Take her to the Supreme Leader!" He snapped.

Rey was getting really sick of being man handled, she had her own feet to walk on and this was one place she actually wanted to go. She started recognising the identical corridors from the last time she was marched to the throne room. Last time, she thought she had known the outcome of her visit, this time she had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. Honestly, she didn't think Ben knew what he was going to do either. She was taken into the familiar lift to the throne room and she waited with baited breath to see him again. When the doors opened though, the scene was just wrong. The Supreme Leader was in the huge, overbearing chair. His mask hid his face and his Knights of Ren stood silently around the room but this didn't suit him. Not like it did Snoke.

"The last … apprentice." Ben said, his voice distorted by his mask. He waved his hands and her shackles clicked and fell to the floor.

"I am not an apprentice." Rey said.

"True." Ben replied. "Your Master is dead. I don't know what you are."

"I'm a Jedi." She stated.

"The Resistance certainly seems to think that." Ben said flatly. "Their efforts will be fruitless without you."

"They survived before me, they might not need me as much as you think they do." She repeated his earlier words back to him. It was like she was attempting to draw out the man she knew rather than speaking to this distorted shell.

"Maybe. But I think they've put too much faith in you, an untrained Padawan." He replied. His tone was so distant and detached. "Not that long ago you were a lonely scavenger, now you've only just learned of your abilities, you're untrained, without a Master and no one in the Resistance can help you. In a room full of powerful Force users, the Resistance's dependence on you is obliviously pathetic." Unlike Snoke's Praetorian guard who always faced forward, uninterested, all of the Knight of Ren had their attention fixed on her and it made her skin burn. He was trying to rile her up into lashing out, she knew he was and that was exactly why she wasn't going to let him.

"And yet I managed to murder the Supreme Leader Snoke." Rey told him cooly.

"An oversight." He stated. Ben rose from the tacky chair and walked slowly toward her, he stopped at the bottom of the sloped pedestal that the throne sat upon. He shrugged his long, black cape off his shoulders with a flourish and whips his lightsaber hilt off his belt and ignited it. It hummed and hissed at his side. "I guarantee you, I will not be as easy to slay. Who has the scavenger's weapon?" One of the Knights held out Rey's collapsible staff and Ben turned his head to them. He pointed two fingers of his empty hand at the staff and flicked it toward Rey, as if summoning it. Rey plucked it out of the air as it sped toward her. He was challenging her. He wanted her to fight him. Why?

"I will not fight you." Rey told him.

"You will scavenger. Show me why the Resistance believes in you." Why was he doing this? He knows that she could fight him extremely well, what was he thinking? The whole situation felt wrong to her. She gripped her staff tight but kept it at her side.

"No." She said defiantly.

"Fight me."

"No." She let go of her staff and let it clatter onto the floor. The felt the Knights around her stir.

"Pick up your weapon." Ben snapped.

"No." She snapped back. She slowly walked towards him, like she was approaching a scared, cornered animal that could lash out at any time. This seemed to shake him as his anger escalated suddenly.

"Pick up your weapon and fight me!" He shouted at her now as the space between them got smaller and smaller but she did not flinch or back down. She continued until she was face to face with him and his lightsaber buzzed beside her.

"No." She said it softer this time. She knew that what she was about to do what going to change their future, for better or worse, she didn't know. There was only one way to find out. She slowly reached up to his masked face. He didn't stop her, she didn't know why because he very easily could have. She put her hands onto his mask, her fingers reaching under his jaw, searching until she could it. She felt the button and pressed it, the mask clicked and the mechanism inside whirred and the front opened up. She slowly pulled the mask over his head and he let her. His eyes darted around her face, taking her in. So many emotions sped through them as Rey looked up at him, fear, panic, happiness, relief, torment. All Rey wanted to do was calm him, her hand holding his mask dropped to her side and she reached up to him with the other.

Rey he warningly said in her head. She ignored him and lay her hand on the scar she'd left on his face and it was like she'd been struck by a bolt of lightning. Ben felt it too and they stared at each other wide eyed, seeing both the other person and inside their head. The image in their heads was the same: a raven haired little girl with the eyes of a scavenger. At the same moment, they both said the same thing.

"You've seen it too."

*****

"You've seen it too" Kylo said. He saw the child in her mind as clearly has he'd seen it that night. They had shared the dream. Was it even a dream? What did it mean? His bafflement was mirrored by Rey who stared at him, the same thoughts running through her mind. Their lives were destined to be intertwined, that's what they were being shown. Did he really want to give up now? Did he really want to die now knowing that this was possibly a vision of his future? The Knights around them started to stir. He was sure that they couldn't see inside his head but he knew they could feel the connection that was burning and sparking in the Force between him and Rey. They knew now. This was it, time to decide. Live or die.

Hit me with as much Force power you can. He said in her head. She looked at him shocked.

What? She replied.

Rey, trust me. He pleaded with her. She gave him a small nod. She leapt back and a blast of Force lightning shot towards him. He countered it with his own lightning and was amazed that not only she knew how to do it but it was as strong as his own. Although, given his past experiences with Rey he should be less amazed by her power by now. Their lightning hissed and cracked where it met and the Knights of Ren started to surround them. He doubted they knew what to do. Usually they didn't do anything without him ordering them to but they had just seen their Master have a tender moment with the enemy and now it seems like they were trying to kill each other. They had to make this fast.

Put more power in Rey. He urged her, his voice was urgent but he tried to keep his tone sweet.

It's hurting. She told him. It was bound to, it was so much Dark power she was using to keep up with him, he didn't think he had that much in her.

I know, not much more now. He tried to comfort here. She put more power behind her attack as he did his. Where the bolts met, burned white hot and the power in the Force was thrumming in the air. The Knights were starting to be affected by it, the thrumming pressure pushing them back from him and Rey. It was heightening, almost at the point Kylo was aiming for.

One more big push. He thought to Rey. She pushed hard as did her until it snapped. The power of the Force shattered around them, exploding and snapping in the air. It hit him like a blow to the chest, leaving him gasping. Rey was taking a deep breath, clutching her chest. He looked around him, all the Knights had been thrown backwards across the room and knocked unconscious. There was no time to lose. He sped towards Rey and grabbed her hand in his and pulled her along behind him.

"We have to go. Now." He barked. She didn't respond, she just followed. When they were back in the common corridors of the ship, he dragged her behind him, speeding blindly when he stopped suddenly. "We can't take my ship, it will be tracked." He looked around, pondering his next move.

"Finn and Rose snuck on board in a ship, is that still here?" Kylo thought for a moment.

"Should be. Let's go." He started off again, this time Rey keeping up with him. She seemed more eager to go with him now that she knew that he planned to escape.

"What just happened there?" She asked him quietly.

"Hitting each other with strong but equal power overloaded the Force and it hit other Force users with a blast that knocked them out. Similar to when we blew apart the lightsaber." He informed her.

"So they're not dead?" He shook his head.

"Just unconscious. And not for very long so we have to get out of here fast." Rey didn't say anything else, she just followed him. For a while anyway. It took them much longer to get through the ship that Kylo would have liked but he couldn't risk being seen.

"Where are we going?" Rey asked.

"Refuge." He told her.

"Refuge?" She asked him confused.

"The ship was impounded, hopefully it's still intact." He said. When they finally reached refuge, it was as unguarded as Kylo had hoped it'd be. It was just refuge after all. The ship was still there, looked good enough. It was very luxurious and high-tech so he assumed that any ransacking of it would have been obvious. He wondered about the true owner of the ship. Ships this nice were only owned by one type of person, scum. He ushered Rey up the ship's spiral steps onto the ship while he ran over to the refuge hold's control panel. He mashed in his personal code and programmed the hold to dispose of the trash at a specific time. A time that was in approximately 56 seconds. He sprinted back to the luxury ship and closed the drop steps behind him as quick as he could. When he got to the cockpit, he found that Rey had sat on a bench behind the pilot's seat, he was sure she would have been front and centre. "Not in the pilot's seat?" He asked.

"I assumed you had a plan." She told him.

"Not really." He sat in the empty pilot's seat and started up the ship that purred quietly around them. He pushed a lever forward and the ship hovered off the floor of the hold.

"What now?" Rey asked. She was now leaning over him, watching what he was doing. As she said this, the hold doors opened and the trash around them, as well as them, were sucked out into space. Kylo waited a moment and allowed them to float aimlessly in space with the rest of the trash. He was getting antsy, they had to move soon and get as much space when them and the Supremacy as possible. Cautiously, the pressed the ship forward, they had to get out of range of the massive cruiser before jumping to lightspeed or they would be noticed. As they coasted away, an alarm on the control panel started blaring obnoxiously. Rey ran to check it.

"We've got followers." She told him. "A ship like this won't have any weapons systems but it's fast." It would have been easier to shoot, between him and Rey, they'd be able to handle anything. Speed he could work with though.

"Buckle up." Kylo told her and Rey jumped into the nearest seat and strapped herself in. He saw the formation of Tie fighters appear on the scanner of the star yacht. Kylo flipped the ship 180 degrees and sped over the tops of the fighters. The fighters were fast too but this was something else. The flying was so smooth and the ship was so agile. If it was at all possible, Kylo wanted to keep this. He dove in between the fleets ships, dodging the fighters and trying to shake them. They were short range fighters, so with the option to shoot back off the table, Kylo's only option was to lead them so far from the fleet that they'd have to return or risk being lost in space. He constantly had to bob and weave to avoid being hit by blasts but he pulled them further and further from the safety of the fleet.

"How much further can they go?" Rey asked him.

"Not much further, braver pilots might risk it though." He watched the scanners instead of out the window. He used the Force to help him navigate the ship going forward but he used the scanners to keep an eye on the pursuing fighters. The Tie pilots knew they were getting to the edge of their limit because they let out a last, desperate flurry of blasts. Kylo barrel rolled the ship out of the path of the shots and dipped and pulled up, throwing the ship around to avoid the flurry. "Brace yourself." He watched the readout on the panel and as soon as they were out of the Supremacy's range he immediately jumped to lightspeed. He didn't take them far, he had no idea where to go after all but they were far enough that they shouldn't be able to be tracked. They wouldn't think to put a tracker on a ship destined for the trash drop. When they dropped out of lightspeed, he sighed and relaxed into the pilot's seat. He heard Rey unbuckled herself behind him.

"That was brilliant! I had no idea you were such a great pilot." Rey told him excitedly.

"Do me a favour and tell Dameron that the next time you see him." He told her flatly. His brain was fried and Rey's energy was more than he could handle at the current moment.

"Where did you learn to do all that?"

"Don't you remember who my father was?" Rey's excitement fizzled out. She nodded understanding. He wasn't sure if she was ever going to forgive him for that. She'd formed an attachment, an admiration for his father that he and once had and he understood well. It was the first time she really saw him as a monster.

"Where are we now?" She asked him quietly.

"Don't know, I just jumped. I don't know where to go now." He admitted to her. He honestly didn't. After their moment in the Throne room in full view of the Knights, he knew they had to get out of there but he hadn't thought this far ahead.

"I have an idea." She told him. She walked toward the pilot seat gestured at the control panel. "May I?" He nodded at her, at least one of them had an idea. If he ended up back in the company of his mother and her cohorts however, he'd be taking this ship and departing alone. He turned and left Rey to her plan. He went straight to a storage area and closed the compartment door behind him.

He stood in the dark for several moments, thinking over everything that had just happened. There was no going back now, no turning back to the Knights, to Hux, to the First Order and if he was perfectly honest with himself, he didn't really know how he felt about that. He pulled his black gloves off his sweaty palms and dumped them on the floor. He wiped his hands on his tunic, which drew his attention. He striped the tunic off, as well as his under shirt. He put his hand out to flip a switch on the wall to turn on the light. The walls around him were lined with shelves storing neatly stacked boxes. Kylo started rummaging through their contents, he wasn't exactly surprised with what he found. First Order uniforms, Stormtrooper armour, Tie fighter uniforms and even old Empire uniforms. He also found some familiar orange jumpsuits with Resistance patches emblazoned on the shoulders. Kylo scoffed at it, he was right, scum double sided owner. He dragged an off-white shirt out one of the boxes and he pulled it over his head. The collar was long and it folded diagonally across his chest. He sifted through the uniform coats and picked up and old Empire Officer's coat. He dug his fingers under the patches stitched onto the coat and ripped them off. He shrugs the coat on and tucked the shirt in to his trousers. Now he looks down at the crumpled black clothing he'd dumped on the floor. The remnants of Kylo Ren, Kylo Ren was gone now, left behind in the Throne room. He couldn't be Ben either. He didn't know who he was anymore, he was nothing now.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hux deals with the aftermath of Rey's visit and the Knights of Ren debate the fate of their Master.

"Blast that puny ship to oblivion!" Hux screamed. He stood on the Supremacy's bridge, watching the scanners while his highly trained officers scrambled around like headless Loth-cats. He saw the small star yacht that had been held captive dart through their seemingly oppressive fleet with a ridiculous amount of ease.

"We're trying Sir but the Supremacy's cannons aren't fast enough to hit the small ship but we have some Fighters on its tail." Lieutenant Stynnix offered. This just angered Hux more. Surrounded by the majesty that was the First Order fleet and now he was relying on ridiculous little Tie Fighters to solve his problems?!

"Well send more of them out now!" he screamed at the Lieutenant.

"Of course Sir, it'll take about 3 minutes though." She informed the General.

"Well do it 3 minutes ago!" he snapped. That yacht needed to be destroyed. He didn't even know who was on it, the girl? Another traitor? He was going to find out but it wasn't going to be a good thing either way. He stormed off the bridge and headed straight towards Snoke's throne room, starting there seemed the simplest idea. If Ren still had a hold of the girl, then he was going to have to re-evaluate his army's training process. Something wasn't right with the girl. Her "capture" seemed far to easy. She was conveniently far from her Resistance friends when they came for her, like she was waiting for them. Had she known that they were coming? She must have used the Force for something, Hux knew nothing of that mumbo-jumbo. What he did know was history. And the history of the Force was pretty bleak and pathetic. Many times they had died out and clawed back. The only thing that was ever constant was the comforting presence of a strong controlling party, the Empire before them and now the First Order. Although, the introduction of the girl to his world had seemed to tear down everything that he had built and putting back together was proving to be a never ending task. One girl. Had managed to rip through the formidable First Order like a tornado and when Hux had finally came face to face with her, he realised that if he didn't despise her he could probably fall for her. He tried with girls when he was a teenager, he'd written love letters, he'd picked flowers, he'd declared his love before. It all came to nothing. He learned early on that love brought nothing but disappointment and weakness and he decided that he didn't need it. His true love became power and that soon drove everyone away. Including girls.

He knew there was something off about everything. Something going on with her and Ren. Thinking about this caused a lurch in his stomach, which he recognised as jealousy. Being jealous of Kylo Ren was not a new sensation for him. He'd long tried to surpass his rival but in the eyes of his master, Kylo Ren's power would always win out over his military prowess. But this time it stemmed from something different. She'd called him Ben. Very, very few people knew of Ren's parentage and his real name but the girl appeared to be one of them. More than that though, the way she said it ... it was affectionate. No one had ever said Hux's name like that, let alone a girl. Kylo Ren had done far worse than he ever had, why did he deserve someone to care for him? Did he care for her too? Was this the source of all his problems? Ren's teenage crush on a girl?! The more Hux entertained the thought, the more things were starting to make sense. The amount of the times the Resistance has gotten away from them because Ren was focused on the girl. What really happened that night in the throne room, did she kill Snoke or did Ren kill him for her? As the thoughts raced through his mind, images of the First Order falling to ruin as Ren held the girl in his arms, Hux became furious. No matter who had escaped on the pod, Kylo Ren would be thoroughly interrogated about the scavenger. Hux flinched thinking about the pain he could inflict on him when he broached the subject, quickly he took out his blaster and made sure he set it to kill before entering the confrontation.

He stood in the small elevator as it ascended to the throne room, his mind reeling from his suspicions, getting more and more angry the closer the moment came. He'd demand to know the truth from Supreme Leader Kylo Ren and he'd do it in front of his Knights of Ren so that a seed of doubt would be planted no matter the outcome. Overthrowing him would be easier once his bodyguards doubted his every intention. The elevator's movement slowed and when it stopped the doors slid open to silence.

Hux was met with a sight that was starting to become a regular occurrence much to his displeasure. As he walked through the silent throne room, his boots echoed against the hard floor. The quiet was deafening. The looked down at the 6 Knights of Ren scattered like ragdolls around the room, they were unmoving but alive, breathing quietly as they lay unconscious. He didn't see the Supreme Leader though. His head did another quick whip around to double check, he was gone. And so was the girl! His feet took him to the foot of the magnificent throne where he picked up the mask that Ren wore that seemed to have been tossed to the ground left behind with the Knights that still wore them proudly. Hux gripped the mask, trying to put his strength into trying to crush the thing but it came to no avail. He redirected the energy into throwing the mask across the room where it crashed to the floor, the resulting sound blasting in the impossible silence. The noise caused a masked Knight to jerk their head up.

"I'm getting really sick of finding people unconscious when I come in here." Hux spat. The Knight's head darted around, clearly looking for their Master. When they didn't find him, their fist slammed hard into the floor. As they rose to their feet, Hux realised which Knight it was. Goran Ren, he was by far the tallest and also Kylo's right hand.

"Where is Master Kylo?" he hissed, his voice distorted through the mask. If someone asked him, Hux would have said that he knew the Knights of Ren, mainly cause he could tell them apart. Their voices, their heights and body shapes and even their mannerisms. In reality though, he knew next to nothing. Their names were all fictional, chosen when the took the last name Ren. Their voices were always distorted through their masks that always hid what they really looked like. Kylo was the only one to ever remove his mask.

The situation confirmed Hux's suspicions though, Ren had fled with the girl. Goran Ren scrambled to his feet, his massive body towering above Hux who wasn't exactly on the short side himself. The Knight stormed around the room, kicking his brothers awake. They all began to stir and slowly rise, each of them looking around the room in their own time, realisation dawning on them.

"He's gone. Took the scavenger with him it would seem." Hux snapped. "You're all PATHETIC!" He exploded. The Knights turned to look at him now. " The 6 of you, unable to stop them, your traitorous Master and a scavenger from Jakku!" Suddenly Hux felt that all too familiar invisible pressure on his throat. Goran Ren held his hand out toward him, leaving his gasping, clutching at empty air at his throat.

"I suggest, General Hux, that you hold your tongue until you can speak of things you know." Goran hissed at him. Hux felt the usual light headedness that usually accompanied this form of punishment.

"He's escaping ... on a star yacht with the ... girl as we speak." Hux choked out. Goran held him, his feet now dangling in the air below him for a moment longer, watching the General's face turn an abnormal shade before dropping him to the floor. Hux hit it hard with a thud, a loud gasp of air being sucked in at the same time.

"Leave us" Goran said. Hux slowly scrambled to his feet, panting heavily and clutching his throat. Hux padded towards the entrance elevator as the Knights began to converge behind him.

"Former Supreme Leader Kylo Ren is a traitor to the First Order and will be treated as such." His voice croaked. "I'm putting a very generous price on his head for him to be returned to us, dead or alive." Hux's delight at the thought of being brought Kylo Ren's lifeless corpse for something as simple as some lousy credits was obvious, to everyone, and smug smile spread across his face. "And you can now refer to me as Supreme Leader Hux."

"For now." One of the other Knights piped up, this one's voice was more delicate. Hux had often suspected that this one was female but he had no way of knowing for sure. "I wouldn't order yourself a new throne just yet." They said, their tone threatening. Hux didn't respond, he turned on his heels and headed for the elevator before any of them could make good on the threat.

*****

Serafin watched Hux retreat from them, her threat still hanging in the air. Her mind was reeling. What had happened? She was struggling to sort everything out in her head, the blast from the Force had her scrambled and she replayed what she remembered in slow motion to take everything in, to try and see what she had missed. They'd brought Rey to Master Kylo like they'd been told and they stood aside and watched everything unfold. She wasn't scared, she was completely calm, even when he demanded that she fight him. Serafin had thought it was Rey's strength, standing up to him but the longer she watched them interact, the more she thought that there was something else to it. When Rey refused to fight Master Kylo, she elicited a strange burst of emotion from him. Serafin had seen him explode before, usually in fury but this was different. His anger was tinged with panic and fear. She'd hidden her confusion when Rey dropped her weapon and slowly approached him. It was like watching an unarmed hunter approach a ferocious wild animal, the whole time she held her breath, waiting for one of them to strike. But neither of them did, instead Rey stepped up to him and removed his helmet. Serafin could feel the peace wash over him as Rey held a hand to his cheek, like she'd tamed a great beast. She felt something else too, a surge in the Force. It was like the complete power of the Force converged and struck the two of them like a lightning rod. She'd never felt anything like it before, this was special, a melding of light and dark. The two of them touching caused the Force to pulse and ebb powerfully and looking at her brothers, she knew they all felt it too. They started to shift towards the pair, their hands hovering over their weapons but they stopped in their tracks when Rey and Kylo shot Force lightning at each other. Master Kylo's blue and Rey's a blinding white. How? No light user had ever been able to produce Force lightning before, it drew on dark energy, of which light users couldn't provide enough of. Not only was she doing it, it was holding up against his, one just as powerful as the other. The amount of power they were both giving out was putting pressure on her brain, it was overwhelming. The other Knights felt it too, their stiff postures collapsing as the power surge overcame them. The pressure spread to Serafin's chest, pushing on her lungs as the pressure was mounting, it was going to explode.

When she was kicked awake on the floor, she knew that was exactly what had happened. Now they were both gone, on the run it seemed and Serafin was struck with a painful pang of loneliness. She'd known Kylo since she was a child. He was the only one who understood the darkness in her and when he fled, he asked her to join him and she had. He saved her life. She'd stood by him ever since, loyal to the end. She'd thought that she had meant the same to him but he had left her behind.

When Hux had left them, the 6 of them removed their masks. It was a token of solidarity to wear their masks around outsiders and a token of respect to remove them when within their own company. She looked around at the faces of her brothers, most of the time their faces never betrayed their emotions but now their stoic personalities were failing.

"It appears we have lost our Master" Goran stated. He wasn't upset about it, Serafin knew that. Neither Kylo nor Goran really cared for each other but Goran was the next most powerful after Kylo and he knew to keep him close.

"We must retrieve him before anyone else does." She said. "Any common bounty hunter would be happy to kill him for the money." She continued, making her concern for their Master obvious. She thought that her brothers in arms would reflect this concern, they did not.

"Let them. He's a traitor." Emmery snapped. Serafin shot him a distasteful look.

"Kylo Ren is your Master and you will respect him as such." She snapped back.

"Respect. I think you're confusing respect with lust, Serafin." He spat at her, it took her all her self control to leave him unharmed.

"And I think you're confusing lust with loyalty, Emmery." She hissed back.

"Oh yes, we all know exactly how loyal to Master Kylo you are."

"Come now Emmery, no need for hostility. Besides, something tells me that Master Kylo isn't Serafin's type." Goran commented, his voice laced with acidity. His comment brought a memory into her head. Rey looking at her unafraid, Serafin holding her chin as she looked at her burst lip. Serafin had shown her tenderness in a moment of weakness, she now realised what a dangerous mistake that had been. She tried to push the thought out as quickly as it came but seeing a dark smirk on Goran's face, she knew it was too late. "I thought so." Goran confirmed out loud. No one else had seen Rey in her head, Goran was the only one strong enough to do that but it didn't matter, he wanted her to know that he knew.

"I don't see the relevance of my personal life to this situation." Serafin spoke firmly.

"It's highly relevant." He told the group. "Serafin Ren's loyalty to Master Kylo and her ... endearment for the Jedi demonstrates her bias opinion. I don't like the idea of disgusting bounty hunters cashing in on one of our own. We will search for Master Kylo and we will bring him back. Dead or alive." Goran stated looking Serafin dead in the eyes. She had hoped that the Knights of Ren would leave straight away to find their Master before any harm came to him but now she hoped that they would never find either of the runaways.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe gets talked round by an old friend of Leia's.

Poe looked out at the misty sky. The gas from the massive planet below them drifted up to the city that resided above it. Bespin was a planet known for having no affiliation. They were just a mining planet and sold their goods to anyone who had money to buy. This made the floating Cloud City a very wealthy town. A good ally to have when you're down on your luck. Lucky for the Resistance, the General had a close relationship with the man who ran the show. However, for Cloud City to retain its unaffiliated status, Poe and the rest of the Resistance were cooped up inside one of the extravagant habitats that populated the city. Poe didn't feel lucky. He'd felt so many things over the past day and a half, anger, disgust, betrayal, hurt but not lucky. Poe had made so many mistakes in the name of being a Resistance hero and most of the time he had been blind to the consequences of his actions. But not this time. He'd put all of his faith into Rey, his hero, and in moments it had been ripped away. Poe wondered if that's what the families of the fallen heroes of his missions felt, and that left a wrenching tear in his gut that he was finding difficult to handle. He sat down on the bed in his chambers. It was a small room but very luxurious. The bed was the softest he'd ever slept on but he couldn't enjoy it. The door slid open he Poe was greeted with a barely familiar and unwelcome face.

"If you've come to socialize, I'm not in the mood." Poe said flatly.

"Well unfortunately I'm always in the mood for socializing." The gentlemen quipped and flashed him a smile.

"What do you want Calrissan?" Poe snapped back.

"Hey kid, no need for the hostility. Although, I'm told that's all you've got recently." Lando said. The old man came further into the small chambers and sat himself down beside Poe.

"We were betrayed!" Poe exclaimed.

"Betrayed. I see." Lando seemed to muse over this. "Tell me, were you attacked?"

"No." Poe said confused.

"Because the girl led them away from the Resistance, am I correct?"

" Yeah but-" Poe started.

"And they didn't come back for you did they?" Lando asked.

"I don't know, we left-" Poe tried again.

"No and does the girl know where you are now?" Lando quizzed him.

"No … but-"

"Then what are you worried about?" Lando said finally.

"She was connected to him the whole time!" Poe exploded, all Lando's points were valid and that angered him. Lando watched and waited for Poe's anger to sizzle out.

"So it's not that the girl betrayed the Resistance, it's that the girl betrayed you." Lando said matter of factly and Poe had no retort this time.

"We trusted her … I trusted her." Poe spoke quietly.

"Listen kid, as someone who has made more than a few mistakes in the past, let me give you some advice. If you believe in someone, and you believe in Rey yes?" Lando looked at Poe and Poe paused thoughtfully for a moment before slowly nodding. "If you believe in someone, don't cut off their path to redemption. They won't want to walk it if the ones they love aren't waiting for them at the end of it. Besides, it might not be Rey who needs to walk that path."

"Ren you mean?" Poe scoffed. "Leia thinks he cares for Rey. That he'll change for her." He continued, Poe's doubt evident in his voice.

"Listen, I knew that kid before he could even pick up a lightsaber. There's good in him, you can see it in his eyes. And from what I hear, Rey's a hell of a gal." Lando smiled at Poe and gave him a nudge. Poe couldn't help but smirk. She certainly was, he wouldn't have been so messed up for anyone less. "But for now, Leia needs you, they all do."

"I'm no leader, Leia said so herself." Poe told him.

"Well we must know different Leia Organas then cause from what I hear you're the only man for the job." Poe perked up at this, he'd waited so long to know that Leia held him in such high regard but he had to admit to himself that knowing Rey had changed him. He wasn't that trigger-happy flyboy anymore, that guy wasn't a hero. He'd known a real hero, seen the sacrifices a real hero made for the ones they cared about and he wanted to be like that too. Rey had made him soft and maybe that was a good thing.

"Where do we even go from here?" Poe said finally. Landon threw his head back and chuckled.

"Don't you worry about that kid, I've got you sorted." From under his cape, the old gentleman pulled out a small holopad and flicked it on. In front of them was a small projection of a sleek, black X-Wing rotating to show off it's features. Poe's eyes lit up. "Heard you needed a new one, thought it was the least I could do for a Resistance hero."

"It's beautiful, but mine was a little more … advanced." Poe commented. Lando chuckled again and patted Poe on the shoulder before standing up.

"And where do you think the Resistance got that kind of tech?" he said with a wink.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben argue over their alliance, losing hope before they both have insightful interactions that change their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! that's me all caught up now so the chapters won't be up as quickly from now on as I'm still writing, thank you for readding this far! i love you! xxx

Almost immediately after Rey had set a course into the star yacht for them, she succumbed to sleep. He didn't bother to wake her, she'd been awake for a long time and had expended so much power throughout her day. He was feeling depleted himself but after everything that happened, he feared what would be waiting for him in his dreams. He had scooped her out of the pilot's chair and carried her to the huge audacious bed in the bed chamber, he'd doubted she'd ever slept in such luxury and that made him a little sad. He lay her down and pulled a blanket of soft fabric over her. He'd seen her sleep before, their bond tended to connect them at the oddest of times and he presumed that they'd been connected many more times than they'd been aware of. But this was different, she was peaceful. Usually she turned and tossed and her eyes darted around behind her lids but now, she was still, as if she had no worries in the world.

He left her to her peace, he wasn't sure if she'd get this moment of calm again anytime soon. He took himself back to the pilot's seat and sat down. He watched the information on the displays change and tick down as they grew closer to their destination. Looking at the display, he was sure he knew where they were going but not entirely, that piece of the map was missing after all. So he would wait and see where they ended up, he hoped he was right though, they needed sanctuary. He unclipped Rey's lightsaber staff from his belt, he had snatched it off the throne room floor during their escape. He turned it over in his hands, examining it. It was beautifully crafted and his uncle's handiwork was evident to him from the toys the Wookie made him as a child. He'd even helped him craft his own lightsaber once upon a time, with Jedi input from Luke of course. He clicked the latch and the staff snapped out to its full length. He stood up now and held it out in front of him, the centre of it balanced on the edge of one finger. With a flick of his finger, he tossed the staff up and plucked it out of the air with one hand, igniting the blades simultaneously. The staff buzzed in his hand, the purple blades sparking and hissing much like his own lightsaber, the crystal must have been damaged. But the colour, there was no denying it. He could feel the power in the weapon, this was no simple Jedi weapon, he could feel that much. The memory of Rey almost murdering the pilot with darkness in her eyes came back to him and it sparked something inside him, maybe she was closer to joining him then he'd thought.

He woke up with a start, the ship was bobbing and weaving erratically, tossing him in the pilot's chair. He was surprised he even fell asleep, there were no nightmares. His confusion was cut short by noticing Rey hunched over the control panel, using the manual control stick to navigate them through a thunderstorm. She didn't turn to him but she knew he'd woken up.

"Sorry, the landing's a little bumpy." She said, barely giving her attention, she was so focused on flying the star yacht to safety. He straightened himself up and stood to look over her, out the window. It was pitch black, how she even knew which way they were facing was beyond him. But he knew where they were, he could feel the power of the island, pulling him toward it. As they got closer, he could make out the steep cliff faces and grass and rocky hills, heavy rain battered the ship through the darkness as Rey circled the ship round the island.

"What are you looking for?" he asked.

"A landing spot." As she said the words, she obviously spotted what she was looking for because she pushed the ship down through the storm and onto a flat clearing on the edge southern edge of the island. She hovered and then set the ship down on its long legs, giving the spiral staircase space to emerge from beneath it. "We're here." She said quietly. She finally turned to look at him now, a huge, warm smile spread across her face. She ran past him fast and lowered the stairway down to the ancient island and descended it even faster. He followed her outside and found her standing under the shelter of the ship deeply breathing in the wet air. "I think this is my favourite place in the Galaxy. So beautiful." He watched her stare out over the edge of the cliff, into the darkness, being sprayed by rain blowing in the wind and she looked absolutely content. He turned to look out himself and had to take a moment to acknowledge where he was.

"You know, I searched for this place for so long, unsure if it was even a real place and now, I'm here. Standing on the island I'd dreamed about and feeling it's power coursing through my body." He admitted. Rey smiled.

"Well now that you've chosen the Light, we can learn to wield that power together." She said, hopeful. The words hit him like blades slicing through his skin. Chosen the Light?

"What?" He said, confused. Rey blushed slightly.

"I told you I would help you when you turned, it wasn't a lie." She tried to reassure him, as if that were the problem.

"I haven't chosen the Light." He said bluntly. Now it was Rey who looked confused.

"What? But you left with me." She said quietly, almost pleading.

"I didn't choose that. You know that!" He spat. His anger flared up in him, she'd manipulated this situation and now she was pretending as if she'd done nothing wrong! "You forced my hand! You knew that I wouldn't hurt you and that if you exposed me I'd have no choice!" Rey stepped back from him, as if he'd hurt her physically instead of with sharp words. Was she really that oblivious? Was she still kidding herself? Her eyes became glassy as she stared up at him. "I can see the Darkness rising inside you." He told her. Her eyes spilled over as she backed away from him. "You can't keep denying it, not anymore."

"That's not true." She whispered.

"Rey, you manipulated me into ripping my life apart. I saw you almost kill Dameron in a blind rage." Her breath hitched at this and tears spilled down her cheeks. "And you can't deny this." He pulled Rey's staff from his waist and ignited it. She flinched and jumped back from him as if he'd threatened her with it.

"That was your influence." She choked out. He knew that she didn't really believe what she was saying.

"You know that's not true Rey." He told her. His voice was calm now but the things he was saying to her were tearing her apart. "I can feel it burning inside you. You can't help me into the Light, you're not even there yourself." His last sentence came out like the hiss of a snake and it hurt her, he knew it. The fizzing purple glow between them seemed immense in their silence. He watched the words burn through her before she hastily turned on her heel and sped off into the darkness. He turned off her lightsaber and looked for her but couldn't see beyond the underside of their ship. As she disappeared, his anger immediately drained and guilt washed over him. He mentally berated himself and took off running after her. He'd only been running a few minutes before realising that he had no idea where he was. He didn't know his way around this island, an advantage that Rey had over him. Besides that, the storm was beating rain against him, he couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him. He stumbled down a slick, wet staircase and landed on his side on a flat stone path. He scrambled to his feet and took it his surroundings. He remembered this place, stone huts all around him with thatched roofs. He'd seen it in a dream. The peace and belonging he'd had when he'd visited in his sleep wasn't here now, he felt only panic.

A whisper. Was that whispering he heard?

"Rey?" his own voice was a whisper. He followed the sound out of the small village, it guided him. He climbed down the rocky hills and through the rain, towards the cliff edges of the island. The more he followed, the more he could understand the whispers. They were offering him answers, guidance. He reached the edge of the island and he looked over the side. Below him was a gaping hole in the ground. He knew of this place, it was a Dark place. This place had tormented Rey into being driven to him. Whatever this place had to show him, it could not torment him the way it did Rey. He'd had far more experience with Dark torment. He dropped himself over the edge and into the void.

He climbed out of the water and onto the rock floor of the cave. The whispering had stopped now. It had gotten him here. He climbed to his feet and approached the mirrored wall, seeing only himself. It stayed like this for a few moments until he thought that it had brought him here for no reason. It was waiting, waiting to see what he wanted to know.

"I'm here, so show me what you want to show me." He said, his voice echoing in the cave. "I'm not Rey. I will not be shaken so easy." As if being challenged, the reflection of himself smirked and faded. He watched as the image before him changed and transformed … into Rey. She stood in her blue coat with her staff opened and ignited in her hand. Her hair wisped around her face and he skin was glittering with sweat. "Rey." He breathed softly. She turned to him, as if she'd heard him. She smiled at him, a warm, affectionate smile. His corner of his own mouth began to curl upwards in response when a red lightsaber blade blasted through her torso. "Rey!" He screamed. He dropped to his knees as she did and his reflection reappeared to catch her as she fell. His reflection cradled her and stroked her hair back from her face. He looked down to his own lap, which was empty and when he looked up again both he and Rey were gone. He saw only his true self, collapsed on the rocky floor of the cavern, breathless and broken.

*****

Rey ran. She ran through the rain, as fast as she could push herself. She tried to run away from everything Ben just told her. She had been denying it but only because she couldn't bear what it meant if it were true. She had felt it, many times recently. The Darkness bubbling inside. People were counting on her, if she accepted the truth how could she ever face them? How could she save them? She climbed up the wet steps and hillsides, she needed answers and she hoped the Temple would be able to give her them. She stepped inside the empty temple, dark and silent. She wiped the rain off her face and walked toward the mosaic on the floor. She knelt down and touched it. She felt a presence behind her, she didn't turn around. She knew who it was and she couldn't bear to see the disappointment on his face.

"It's true, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

"Yes." She dropped her head, a tear dropping onto mosaic.

"The Resistance needs me, they're counting on me. How can I save them? How can I save him?" She finally turned around. "Luke, what do I do?"

"Rey, this is my fault." Luke told her, a ghostly blue apparition who came over and sat beside her. "The Jedi have always been high and mighty. What they did was right and there was no other way to see it. They were an oppressive people and often it was what caused their problems. My father turned to the Dark side because it took advantage of his love for my mother, a love that was forbidden by the Jedi. I myself was so set in the ways of Light and Dark that I almost killed my own nephew and in turn made him what he is." Luke looked at Rey, his expression sad. "I've failed you Rey, just as I failed Ben. I spend so long trying to Force you both into the moulds that I'd been taught, that I didn't stop to think that you might be something different, something better." Rey looked at her Master confused. He stood up and looked down at her, his expression determined now. "Rey, I promised you 3 lessons and we only managed 2. Would you like your 3rd and final lesson?" Rey scrambled to her feet.

"Yes." Luke smiled.

"Look at this mosaic, what do you see?" He asked her. Rey studied it. A body in the middle, half shrouded in darkness and the other half bathed in light.

"It's the Jedi and the Sith, together, symbolising two parts of the Force." She offered as an answer.

"Yes and no. The image is said to be of the Prime Jedi. The original and only one to harness and wield both the Dark and the Light side. Half and half, completely balanced just like the Force itself." He responded.

"If the Prime Jedi was both Light and Dark, why didn't the Jedi Order follow this?" Rey said.

"It seemed that many Jedi, after being trained in the ways of the Light, found the temptation of the Dark side too much and tipped the scales, they couldn't find the balance. Creating the Sith, they found it easier to divide the Dark and the Light. You were either one or the other."

"I'm not balanced, am I?" Rey asked.

"No, you're more Light than Dark." Luke told her. Rey felt dejected at the confirmation. She'd hoped that Luke was showing her that she wasn't bad, or wrong. "But then there's Ben." Rey's head snapped up, her Master's words capturing her attention.

"What about Ben?" She asked.

"Well he's the same as you. He's neither one nor the other, he's both too." Luke said.

"But we both saw visions of each other. I saw him turning to the Light and he saw me standing with him in the Dark." Rey explained.

"The same visions you saw when Snoke had bridged your minds?" Luke stated. That was true. They couldn't trust anything they saw while Snoke was alive, their visions could have been completely manifested by him. But that dream wasn't. "It doesn't matter what side you each saw yourselves on, what you both saw was that you were standing together and I think that's the truth. And you both sacrificed a lot to make it happen." He continued.

"What are you saying?" Rey said.

"I'm saying that Ben is the same as you, only he is more Dark than Light. So if- when you stand together, you-"

"Are the balance" Rey finished. Luke smiled.

*****

He felt the power. Hers. It was unmistakeable. He rushed towards it, he didn't know where he was going but the power was so strong he could follow it like a beacon. He came to a sudden stop when he reached the arched entrance of the Jedi Temple. He'd heard stories, myths, legends of this place. And now, he was standing right at the entrance, did he dare to step foot inside? He had to, the power coming from Rey was pulsing through him, he had to know what was happening. His first step inside was cautious but the further he got inside, the faster he ran. And then he saw her, deep in meditation. She was hovering a foot above a rock that sat out on the edge of the temple, over-looking the island.

"What do you see?" He asked her. He was careful of his tone, remembering how he had spoken to her last night and the cruel things he said. Was she angry with him? Was that where this new power stemmed from?

"You." She said quietly. She saw him? He dreaded what she was seeing. What secrets about him her new power was allowing her to uncover? "And me." She added. Her soft tone encouraged him to step closer to her. "You were right, you know."

"I was?" He asked her.

"Yes. The Jedi. The Sith. It all has to end. We have to let it die, to become what we need to be." Hearing his words from her coming back at him was surreal. He'd spend so much time trying to convince her of this, to join him that hearing her telling him, completely threw him off. He walked closer to her again until her reached her and got to his knees in front of her. "You've done terrible things but it stops now." His head drops.

"Rey. I'm not Ben Solo anymore. I can't be the man you want me to be." His voice was broken, apologetic. Rey slowly descended to sit on the rock in front of him.

"You are Ben Solo, you're just not that boy who had to fight and hide half of yourself anymore." She said sweetly, he looked up to see her eyes were still closed in meditation. "You have to embrace both sides, the Dark and the Light. Just as I have." She opened her eyes now and he gasped. Her eyes were white, filled with a power she wanted to share with him, the power that radiated out of her. AS he watched her, the milky white faded and her familiar eyes returned.

"I don't understand Rey." He told her.

"The Force has brought us together Ben. It wants us together. I am Light and Dark, you are Dark and Light." She explained.

"We create balance in the Force." He said. It was if everything now made sense. Why their connection continued beyond the lifespan of Snoke. Why they were shown a vision of them together. Their children. The Force was trying to bring them together, to bring back true balance.

"We are neither Light nor Dark, Ben. We are balance. Will you join me?" she asked him and held out her hand.

"Yes." He said and put his hand in hers. Power coursed through his veins, his and hers, Dark and Light. And between them both was complete balance.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia gets the news that she's been waiting on and Rey gets a brutal kick to her ego.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> May the Fourth be with you all! <3
> 
> Rest in Peace Peter Mayhew, your fuzzball laughs with be in our hearts always <3

Leia sat awkwardly in the Falcon cockpit, she was getting too old to comfortably sit in the ramshackle seats of this rust bucket. She was achy, she's been sat here for hours, it could even be days. It wasn't new for someone to be monitoring the comms of the ship since Rey's departure, usually it was Chewie or Finn, until recently. Leia would never claim to be any sort of Jedi but the power of the Force was in her blood and she couldn't deny it. She never wanted to train, that was Luke's territory but he did show her enough, just what she wanted to learn. All she wanted to know about was her people, her family. She could feel them, their emotions, their spirits and she used it to remain connected with them. She used it after Ben was taken, she used it when Han left and she was using it now. There was also no denying that intense surge of power she felt the other day. It was Rey and Ben, she could feel their power and it took her breathe away. Knowing they were together now, she couldn't risk someone else intercepting a message from them. So here she sat, in tense silence, waiting.

"Hello? Falcon, come in. Is anyone there?" she comms crackled. Leia's head snapped up at the small voice buzzing through the speaker. Rey?

"Rey?!" Leia exclaimed into the microphone. "Rey? Are you okay?" At her outburst she could hear several sets of footfall, pounding down the corridor towards her. She turned to see Finn running in, followed by Poe and Chewie.

"Rey?" Finn asked her, Leid nodded and held her finger up to her lips.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I'm good." Her little voice responded and Leia let out a sigh of relief that she realised that she'd been holding for weeks. "Are you all safe? Did they come back?"

"They did but we left right after you did, this isn't my first time." Leia said with a chipper voice. "And you? Where are you, are you safe?"

"I uhh …" Rey paused. As worried as Leia was about them, she understood why Rey was hesitant to tell them her location.

"You don't have to tell me where you are, just tell me you're safe. There's a bounty on both yours and Ben's head. I just need to know that you're okay." Leia urged her.

"I am. We are." Rey paused again. Leia's relief washed over her, for so many reasons. Not only were Rey and Ben safe, they were together and Leia felt real hope. So much so that she was unsure that she was actually hopeful before. But when she turned around to share in the happiness with the boys behind her but Poe's twisted expression gnawed at her heart. "How's … Poe? Is he okay?" Leia watched the bitterness well up in the young man until he shook his head. He turned away and pushed past the large Wookie to get away before he had to hear Rey say his name again.

"He will be." Leia told her sadly. Leia nodded her head at Finn, he took her intention and turned and went after his friend. Chewie stayed put until Leia gave him a look that he knew too well. He huffed at her and turned and left as well. "Rey, if you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Rey was silent. "I'm alone now if that's what's worrying you."

"I'm sorry Leia. For leaving but Ben and I knew it was the only way to save the Resistance." She babbled. Words spilling out.

"I know, it's okay. We're so grateful to you both, I just wish you'd told me." Leia tried to assure her.

"He's never going to forgive me is he?" Rey asked sadly.

"Of course he will Rey. It was a lot for him take in one blow. He will come around to you … and Ben. The two of them are more similar than they think." Leia said. It was no secret that she thought of Poe like a son, there was a reason for that. He reminded her of Ben in so many ways that at times she felt like Ben was always so close. They were both impulsive young men, with so much talent and heart. When Poe's parents died and Han had left, he like Leia was left alone and they built each other back from the ground up into the strong rebel icons they are known as now. Both Poe and Ben were becoming the men Leia always hoped they would be and that was thanks to Rey.

"You think so?" Rey asked her.

"I know so. After all, they're both entranced by you, they can't be that different." Rey's silence was louder than any denial could be. "Rey, I felt you the other day. I can still feel the power now, the both of you."

"What? You can?" Rey's shock clearly took over from her bashful silence.

"Rey, I'm no trained Jedi and I can feel the power of the both of you, which means-"

"The Knights of Ren might feel it too." Rey finished.

"Please Rey, please be careful." Leia begged.

"We will." Rey said quietly.

"Bring my son back to me Rey."

"I will." Rey shut off the comms leaving Leia sitting in the eerie quiet. She'd hoped that once she heard from them, her nerves would ease but the acknowledgement that the Knights had a way to find them filled her with fear.

*****

"Poe! Poe!" He heard Finn yelling after him but he kept walking anyway. Poe marched through the old freighter and out onto the landing pad. He'd had enough of Jedi nonsense, he had his own ship and his own crew to get back to. They needed him, not Rey. "Poe!"

"Don't bother Finn! I got stuff to do."

"Poe, would you just wait a second?" Finn grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him to a reluctant stop. "Can you just talk to me? I haven't seen you since you found out about … everything."

"You know? About Rey and that … that!?" Poe snapped.

"The General told me after everything happened."

"And you're just fine with it all are you?" Poe snapped again. His body was challenging Finn now, as if he needed to fight someone, anyone.

"Not I'm not fine with it! Nothing about it is fine! But sulking about it isn't going to change it!"

"How do we change it then?!" Poe demanded.

"We don't Poe."

"What?"

"What are you going to do Poe, challenge him to a fist fight?" Finn scoffed.

"For a start!" Poe's anger was not letting up. If anything, Finn was increasing it. His apparent passiveness to the situation was infuriating. He should be angrier than anyone, Kylo Ren almost killed him!

"Poe, they're far more powerful than all of us put together, if there's something they want to do, I don't think there's anyone who can stop them." Finn was right of course. Poe knew that but he wasn't happy about it.

"What do we do Finn?" He said finally. Calmer now, hoping that this way he'll get a decent answer.

"Nothing." Finn said. No answer, no plan, no excuse. "Look, when I found you and Rey and the Resistance, I was alone. Now I have something to fight for. When Rey was here, she was still alone. She was sad, couldn't you see it? We couldn't have made her happy."

"I could have tried." Poe said.

"And how do you think that would have gone?" Poe said nothing. What could he say? He knew Finn was right, it was foolish of him to think that a woman like Rey could be happy with someone so mundane as him. "If he makes her feel like she's not alone anymore, then I'm not going to do anything about it. As someone who clearly cares about her a great deal, you should be the same Poe. We don't have to like it, we just have to accept it." Finn's reasonable outlook was making Poe feel like he was being a child throwing a temper tantrum and he needed to be better than that. Be the bigger man, like the man he wants to be, like Finn and Rey.

Y'know Finn, I really hate you sometimes." Finn gave him a small smile and clapped him on the shoulder. "Do you really think he's going to turn good or Light or whatever?"

"Well, the First Order has put a hefty bounty on his head so I'm thinking that's a good sign. Plus, if he'll do it for anyone, it'll be Rey"

"Rey." Poe said at the same time as his friend. They both chuckled for a moment. "How hefty are we talking here?"

"5 million credits." Finn told him.

"Damn. That's more than my bounty." Poe commented.

*****

Rey sat back in the pilot's seat of the luxury ship and sighed. When did everything get so complicated? She'd been so focused on saving Ben from himself that she forgot about her friends, about Finn and … Poe. How could she even begin to ask for their forgiveness? Would they ever forgive her? Could they? She seemingly abandoned them to help their enemy. She just hoped that her's and Ben's newfound power would be the key to ending all this, make it all worth the pain in the end. If she could just talk to her friends face to face. But of course, at this present moment, she and Ben had more imminent problems.

Rey headed back out to the whispy cool air of the island and breathed in deep. Growing up in the harsh desert climate, Rey never got tired of breathing the cool, damp air. It refreshed her, like the first time she stepped foot on this island. Ben was perched on a rock, the backdrop of the ocean behind him, ocean winds whipping his hair. Rey had ment to say something, draw his attention but she couldn't. In that moment she couldn't recognise the man sitting there as Kylo Ren, the Supreme Leader but just a man. At peace with himself, finally. He looked up at her, after what seemed to Rey as an eternity watching him and she could have sworn that she saw the temptation of a smile on his lips. This, this was the man that he was always meant to be, the man that Leia and Han and Luke always hoped he would be. Strong and powerful, yet content and peaceful. A hero. A Jedi. All at once Rey was happy and sad.

"You should have spoken to her." She told him. He cast his gaze downwards and shook his head.

"No." he said quietly, Rey barely heard him over the crashing waves 50 feet below them. "Not yet."

"Ben, she loves you. She just wants to know you're safe."

"I'm sure you told her I'm just fine."

"Ben-" Rey pleaded.

"No Rey!" Ben stood up sharply and barked at her. As quickly as his anger appeared, it dissipated just as fast. Anger on his face turned to sadness and her turned away from her, looking out over the edge of the steep cliff. "I don't even know what I would say to her after …" His voice trailed off. He didn't need to finish the sentence. Rey knew what he meant. All the horror and pain he'd inflicted in his past, he couldn't forgive himself for it, he didn't expect his mother too either. He turned back round but kept his head dipped, unable to meet her gaze. "How did Dameron take your disappearing act?"

Rey didn't want to change the subject, especially not to Poe but it didn't seem like she was getting the choice.

"He hates me." Ben scoffs. The sound takes Rey by surprise, she'd never heard him make any similar noise, didn't even think he was capable.

"I highly doubt that."

"He does Ben. He thinks I've betrayed him." He looked at her now, with a strange expression. Like he was baffled at her stupidity. It took her aback.

"Rey. You forget, I've seen the way he looks at you. He's not capable of hating you." His words seem to hiss, full of venom. And his eyes, what was that in them? Spite? Jealousy? Their silence hung in the air between them. Clearly unable to take the tension, Ben shook his head walked towards her and then straight past her. The topics of conversation were not to his liking Rey noted.

"Ben!" Rey didn't think he would stop but he did. He didn't turn around however, just stopped. "We have a bigger problem. Your mothe- Leia, she can feel our new power. Which means it's likely the Knights of Ren can feel it too. Could they find us?" Ben stood for a moment before turning to her.

"Honestly? Maybe. My … mother, she was never really trained to use the Force. If she can feel it, I have no doubt that my Knigh- The Knights of Ren can too." He said. "I've never … felt power like this before, I can't imagine what it feels like to someone on the outside. I have no idea if it's strong enough or distinctive enough to track." Ben knew far more about all this than she did and hearing him confirm her worries, worried her even more.

"We should be ready for them then, if they do find us." Rey said finally. She pulled her small blaster from the holster at her hip and she chucked it at Ben who caught it with ease. "Shoot me." She said.

"What?"

"Shoot me." She repeated.

"I'm not going to shoot you Rey." He told her.

"I'll be fine, I'll stop it."

"You don't even know if you can stop it."

"You don't know that I can't." She smirked at him playfully. "Do it."

"It's not as easy as you think Rey. It takes a lot of training and-" As quick as a flash of lightning, Ben shot the blaster at her. It took Rey very much by surprise but luckily she managed to duck beneath the shot. She looked over her shoulder and saw the blast fizz out over the ocean. Her head whipped back to look at Ben who held the blaster up, pointing it at her, a small trail of smoke coming from the end of the barrel. He pulled the trigger twice more. Thinking fast, Rey pulled her staff from her belt, extended it and used it's hissing purple blades to deflect the two blasts.

"Hey!" She yelped as she got to her feet.

"No one's going to shoot at you when you're expecting it Rey!" He barked at her, there was nothing playful about him. "Besides, I thought you were going to stop it." His taunts infuriated her. Staff still ignited, Rey runs at Ben and drops down to swipe his legs from under him. He anticipates her and jumps over her staff causing her to fall to her knees behind him. She scrambles quickly to her feet and runs uphill behind him as he turns to follow her. They stare at each other for a moment before Rey shoves one end of her staff into the grassy hillside, scorching the grass and uses the pole to flip herself over Ben's head and down the hill behind him. She twirls her staff above her head and stops the purple blade less than an inch from Ben's head.

"Impressive." Ben remarked. He didn't seem impressed. This was confirmed when he lifted his boot and kicked Rey in the stomach, sending her brutally tumbling down the hill clutching her body in pain. "This is serious Rey!" Ben snapped at her as he followed her back down the hill. "The Force isn't party tricks and The Knights of Ren aren't trained to give off warning shots." His face softened as he reached her and he held out his hand to her. She took it and allowed him to pull her to her feet. He looked her dead in the eyes now, Rey was still in pain but she put that at the back of her mind when she saw just now serious he was. "If they find us Rey, they won't hesitate to kill. You need to learn to protect yourself … properly." He looked down at their clasped hands for a moment before dropping hers and turning to walk back to the ship.

"Then teach me!" She called after him. He stopped and turned to look at her incredulously.

"What did you say?"

"Teach me, Ben." She repeated.

"Rey, a Master and Apprentice relationship isn't something you should enter into lightly. It's a serious commitment." He told her. Rey could hear the real, unasked question that Ben truly wanted the answer to. He wanted to know that she was going to stay and not leave him.

"I know the commitment." She told him.

"Usually, the Master chooses his apprentice, not the other way around." He remarked.

"You offered to teach me once before. Did you mean it?" Rey asked him.

"Yes."

"I mean it now Ben." She told him seriously. She held out her hand to him. "Please." The last word came out a begging whisper. He watched her for a moment, before reaching out to her. He grabbed her wrist and in turn she held his, their new relationship bonded in that moment. They stood so close to one another, their gazes fixed. The moment, so overwhelming and calming together, a moment so intense that one inescapable thing had passed with Rey's notice. That the fabric wrap on the arm that Ben now held had came undone, unveiling a truth that Rey had fought so hard to keep secret.

"Rey … your arm." Ben mused. Immediately she tried to pull her arm away but his vice like grip held her in place as he unravelled the fabric further.

"Ben! Don't!" Her voice was strangled, broken, fearful. He pulled her wrap free and his eyes darted up and down her forearm. He grabbed her other arm and started pulling the wrap off that one too, when both arms were free he held them out in front of him. Rey watched Ben's face as he took in the scarred tissue of her skin. The white, healed lines of whip lashes and the raised remnants of branding that was burned into her skin a long time ago. Rey's face flushed with shame as she watched the realisation dawn on Ben's face. That these were marks of a slave. His face softened into what she could only describe as guilt.

"I'm sorry Rey." He said softly.

"That's why I keep them covered." Rey snapped. "So I don't have to see the pathetic looks of sympathy on people's faces when they find out I was a slave."

"No, Rey. It's not that. I've seen those markings before on skin just like yours."

"What?" Rey asked, completely astounded. "When?"

"A long time ago. When I was a child." Ben watched her warily. "At Luke's Jedi temple."


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serafin learns more about one of her brothers and Hux enacts a Dark plan.

Serafin begrudgingly emerged from her solitude. She'd spent a lot of time in solitude recently, since her Master left. Everything was just wrong now. Her life used to be to straight forward. Kylo Ren was their Master. Her trained them, showed them how to wield the Force like he did. Her saved them from the lonely existence of Luke's temple, allowed them to be who they truly were. He gave them orders and they followed them with undoubting loyalty. They looked up to him, they loved him. Now, Serafin was beginning to wonder if that was just her. Since Kylo had left with Rey, their ranks had fallen to ruin. They didn't know who took orders from whom but it was obvious that Goran thought that the chain of command fell to him. This being the worst outcome possible. It was no secret that he had craved that position for a long time but his poisonous influence over the others was an unwelcome side effect. Her brothers have turned on their Master thanks to Goran, demands for his blood and penance for his betrayal. Serafin wondered what their definition of loyalty was, her loyalty meant that she followed her Master, believing that he knows what is best for them whether it seems right or wrong. As soon as she met Rey, she knew that girl was someone special. Kylo's decision to leave with her was proof of that. Her brothers believed that Master Kylo was wrong in leaving them and in doing so has betrayed them. Goran took pleasure in fuelling this belief, turning every one of her brothers into his own followers, promising them their vengeance. Her loyalty wasn't so easily bought over which is why Serafin found it highly odd that Goran wanted to meet with her.

She strode through the hallways and corridors of the Supremacy, her face masked. She enjoyed watching Stormtroopers and First Order Officers cower from her. It made her feel powerful, strong. None of them knew she was a woman of course, but how she wished she could reveal that fact. She was often curious to see how many of them would think less of her, belittle her or even challenge her. How she would revel in their terrified expressions when she destroyed them, watching as they realised their fateful mistake. She was often doubted growing up purely for her gender. She usually made swift work of the doubters, they never made that mistake again. Her brothers knew she was stronger than them, it only took them a few defeats to learn that. Goran was wise enough never to try. It was the only thing about Rey that she had disliked. She could feel the power burning in Rey and instead of wielding it and showing everyone how powerful a woman she was, she let that Hux walk all over her. Even though they were on opposite sides, she hoped that Rey would at least take on what she said. Kylo was the only one who ever saw past all that, he trained the same with Serafin as he did with anyone else. If anything, he trained harder with her because of her strength, plus they trusted each other. They always had. She just wished that he could have trusted her with this.

The elevator doors to the throne room opened and in the monstrous chair, Goran lounged blissfully. His unmasked face rose to watch her walk toward him but he made no move to get out his Master's chair.

"Some people would consider that treason." Serafin said. He cocked an eyebrow at her and smirked.

"Are those people here?" He asked.

"Yes." Goran smiled and nodded slightly. He got up off the chair and took a step to the side of it, as if displaying its emptiness to her.

"Relax. I just wanted to see what it felt like." He told her.

"And?"

"Well, it's god awful looking but I have to admit, there is something about sitting there that just makes you feel … invincible." He said.

"It's not for everyone." She remarked bluntly.

"You can remove your mask, you're among friends." Serafin unlocked her mask and pulled it off over her head, her red hair falling down her back. She stared him right in the face, an act of disrespect to your superior. Goran may think that he is Serafin's superior but she was determined to make sure that he knew that she didn't think that.

"Y'know Serafin, I admire your loyalty. May I ask, why are you so devoted to Kylo?" He said. His voice was soft.

"Master." She corrected. He smiled slightly, almost bitterly.

"Master Kylo." He managed to force the words out.

"He released me from the oppression of a world I didn't belong in. If I had stayed, I probably would have been killed long before now. He did that for all of us. He rescued us." Goran just listened and nodded.

"Y'know, I wasn't like the rest of you." Serafin looked at him confused. "I wasn't a discarded orphan saved by the great Luke Skywalker. I had parents who loved me, I had a family. A family that I had to give up in order to study the Force, in order to become a Jedi." He scoffed at that last word. Goran had a family? Serafin wondered where his parents were now, if they knew what he had become. Would they be ashamed of him?

"Why are you telling me this?" She asked.

"Because I want you to understand why I can't bring myself to follow Kylo Ren as willingly as you do." He said. He didn't seem to be deceiving her. He seemed to genuinely want to make her understand. "When I chose to leave the Temple that night, it was because he promised me great things. All the power I could possess on the Dark side, freedom from Skywalker but most importantly, I could see my family again. I didn't have to disown them, I could find them and be with them again."

"I've never heard you mention them." Serafin said. Goran looked at her sadly.

"That's because I never saw them again." He told her. "Becoming a Knight of Ren didn't allow for my freedom to find them, I gained brothers … and a sister but I never got my parents back. I tried to be content with this family, I really did but I have always resented him for breaking his promise."

Serafin didn't know what to say. She never knew any of this and despite how much she wanted to be against Goran, she understood his resentment. If she had a family out there somewhere, she's probably feel the same way. It seemed similar to her not being able to leave with Kylo and Rey.

"It's not just about Kylo now though, is it?" Goran's words broke through her reverie. "It's the girl too." Rey's face came to her mind. Her soft eyes in that beautiful face. How she looked up at her with surprise when she realised that Serafin was a woman and when she treated her with kindness. The girl had snuck up on her and she didn't know if she was better or worse for it.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Serafin lied. Goran smirked.

"You forget that I can see inside your head." He remarked. Quicker than she could think about the consequences, Serafin pulled her lightsaber from her belt and had it ignited at Goran's throat.

"Stay. Out. Of my head." She spat at him. He held his hands up defensively. She felt the tendrils of his mind invasion back away.

"I'm sorry. Serafin, please. Think about whose side you want to be on. I'd hate for our force to have to come down on you too." He said.

"What force? The Knights of Ren are nothing like we were before." She told.

"That's true, if we lose you too." He admitted. "We are family Serafin, I don't want to lose you. Take your time and think about it." She turned away from him and stormed out the throne room. Passing a smug looking Hux in the corridor, she remembered to put her helmet back on too late.

*****

The gorgeous redhead was a nice surprise. Hux had long suspected that one of the Knights was a female but he never dared to enquire. Had he known she looked like that, he would have tried to find out more long ago. He would have dwelled on the girl longer, if he wasn't already so elated with his most recent news. When he stepped out into the bare room with the empty chair, Goran Ren stood waiting. He had his back to him but Hux could see that he was masked, he thought he was going to get a glimpse at a second Knight today.

"What do you want Hux?" Goran said without even turning to face him.

"We've found them" Hux informed him with glee. Goran's head twitched slightly, his interest obviously spiked. Still, he didn't turn around.

"Excellent."

"My Red Guard has been deployed."

"What?" Goran finally turned, his presence becoming oppressive and intimidating.

"I deployed them as soon as we confirmed the location of the fugitives." Hux couldn't contain his joy. Kylo Ren would soon be back in his hands, facing punishment finally for his sins.

"Call them back. We will take care of this." Goran said.

"Excuse me?" Hux spat.

"This is a matter for the Knight of Ren to handle. You've done your part."

"I've done my part?!" Hux yelled. "I think you're forgetting whose army you assume to command! Mine!" At his outburst, he was swept off his feet and thrown to the floor.

"I think it's you who is forgetting their place. We keep you around but we don't need you around." Goran hissed at him. "You call back your guard or I shoot them down myself." The giant masked figure stepped over Hux's fragile body and left the room. He scrambled back to his feet and stormed back to the elevator.

Hux was getting really sick of this shit. He'd worked hard, he was smart and cunning. He had a full army at his disposal and most of the galaxy's most horrific weapons were his brain children. He deserved better than this, deserved more respect. These Force users were like petty children, always fighting amongst themselves, no respect. They think that they're in their own league and the rules of hierarchy don't apply to them. Well enough was enough. Hux would prove to them that he is a force to be reckoned with. Supreme Leader Snoke had bragged many times of the power of the Dark side and his prize collection of Sith artefacts. He'd told Hux of the power these artefacts held and that sometimes one could harness the power of them. This wasn't the first time he'd thought of going down this path but Kylo's betrayal and the chaotic nuisance the Knights now posed, Hux decided that now was finally the time to try and harness this power for himself. They would all come to regret their treatment of him soon enough.

He burst out of the elevator and stormed back to his chambers, his body burning with fury. When he closed his door to his private room, he fired up his holopad. A second later, a Tie fighter pilot with a red Stormtrooper mask appeared.

"Sir?"

"Change of plans. The Knights of Ren will be taking care of the fugitives." Hux spat.

"Yes Sir." The pilot nodded.

"However, I want the Red Guard to carry out Order S. Take your squadron to the second location." Hux told him. His voice was hushed even though he was alone.

"Yes Sir. What about location 1?" the pilot asked.

"Once the Knights have departed, I will take the Supremacy to Endor myself." Hux told him. "Let me know what you find."

"Course Sir." The message clicked off and Hux couldn't help but allow himself a little smile.


	17. Chapter 17

“What?” Rey said. Her mind was racing, with everything and nothing all at once. There were other people with the same marks as her out there? Did they come from the same planet? Did they know her? Did they know her parents? Were they her family? Where were they now? Her mind was fired up, speeding through so many questions that she had to snap herself back to reality to try and get answers, from the one man who could maybe give her them.  
“It was a long time ago.” Ben said, dropping her arm. She started wrapping the fabric back around her arm. He’d seen it, that was as much as she could handle.  
“Tell me.” It was a request but it came out far more forceful than she meant it to. Ben’s lips pressed together thoughtfully, his hands were balled into fists at his sides, tensing and untensing, knuckles turning white. She could tell that he wanted to tell her but he was wary, maybe about how she’d react? She was rather wary about that herself.  
“Rey, you have to understand. This is the briefest of glimpses from the memory of a 9 year old, 20 years ago.” He said softly, sadly.  
“Please Ben, anything you can remember.” He watched her for a moment, so calm in his silence that she worried he was ever going to say anything. “Please.” She begged. He sighed, relenting.  
“I hadn’t been with Luke long, his temple was barely a thing yet. It started with me you understand. My strength was obvious to my parents, my fath-Han,” He winced at the name “he didn’t know what to do with me, I was alone a lot and angry. My mother, she begged Luke to train me, to control me. They were scared of me. Luke quickly realised that my parents weren’t the only ones who didn’t know what to do with special children so he created his own Temple where he would train these children. In the beginning there wasn’t many of us and Luke, although he would never admit it, had no idea what he was doing.” He explained. Rey wanted to hurry him but at the same time she was fascinated hearing about the life of her old Master … as well as her new Master. “Anytime I felt myself falling into a fit of anger, he’d told me to meditate, let the light flow through me, to cleanse the anger. I spent a lot of time alone meditating.” The corner of his mouth upturned ever so slightly into the smallest of smirks and as quickly as Rey tried to witness it, it was gone just as quick. “It was one of these times that I saw her. The woman with the marks.” He gestured to Rey’s arm.  
“Was she a slave there? On the Temple planet?” Rey asked curiously. Ben shook his head.  
“On Yavin 4? No, Yavin 4 isn’t a slave planet. But she was indeed a slave, I’d seen my mother free enough of them to know what the marks on her arms meant.”  
“Why was she there?” Rey asked.  
“She was there to see Luke. Beyond that, I don’t know. I was just a child at the time.” Rey tried to hide her disappointment at the lack of information. It wasn’t Ben’s fault, he was only a child. How could he have known that this one memory would become so vital. Plus, what he had given her was already so monumental. Anything at all was better than the nothingness she’d lived with for so many years.  
“Surely being a slave she couldn’t have travelled far, one of the planets near Yavin 4 maybe?”  
“Maybe-”  
“I could start there though, check the slave planets first, see if anyone else has the same marks. If not, widen the search from there-”  
“Rey.” Ben interrupted, stopping the flow of her tumbling thoughts spilling from her mouth. When she finally saw him, finally registered his expression, it was one of concern. It didn’t mirror Rey’s hope that she felt and it confused her.  
“Ben, this is the only clue I’ve ever had … to figure out what happened … who I am.” Her voice was pleading. She didn’t mean it to be but that’s how it sounded. Evidently, she wanted his help.  
“Rey.” He said. He watched her face warily as he spoke. “You will find out what happened to your family. I’ll help you, I promise.” His words came out soft and soothing. “But it’s not safe right now. We’re fugitives and they will find us, I never expected any less. You need to be ready for when they do … I … I need you to be ready.” Now it seemed that it was him begging something of her. She didn’t know where this worry for her safety was coming from, she had shown time and time again that she could take care of herself, even against him. Even so, she found herself softening to him and wanting to ease his worry. She would concede, for now. Both the Resistance and them can’t take this much longer, it will all come to a head soon. If she made it through it, he’d help her find her family. He promised.  
She nodded slowly.  
“Teach me.”

After she agreed to be his apprentice, Rey found that Ben held nothing back. He taught her everything Luke had taught him, as much as he could anyway. He taught her lightsaber stances, techniques, moves. He even let her train with his blade. When he’d offered to swap blades with her, it felt like a huge gesture. The moment they willingly handed their own weapons to the other was charged and powerful. It took Rey’s breath away. Since she’d rebuilt her saber, it had been so in tune with her, more than it ever had been before. She’s meditated it back to life, it was infused with her just as it was now a part of her. A part that Ben held in his hands, he accepted it and it him. Holding his saber in her hands, she found that it too was like him. It was Dark, it was powerful and it fought her. At first. For a long time, she just held it, begging it to accept her. When it finally did, she looked to Ben. She couldn’t really read his expression, if she had to pinpoint the emotions there she would have said relief and fear.  
He trained her with a new found vigour. Pushing her hard, for a long time. Never letting up when he almost had her. It was brutal. As the suns started to set, there was no sign of him letting up and they continued well into the darkness, their lightsaber clashes lighting up the area around them. Rey was exhausted.   
“Ben … can we stop now?” She panted. Her voice was shaky and she could see her words manifest as mist in the cold air.  
“No.” He launched at her again and she swiped her own staff away with his red sparking blade. His attacks were fierce.  
“Ben!” He lashed and struck at her again, forcing her to swipe him back again and again. “Ben, stop!” Rey spun his blade above her head and brought it down at him with a vicious swipe. The last time she had used that move, she ripped him open from chest to eyebrow, leaving his scar as a reminder. He knew that. Ben dropped the ground to avoid Rey’s slash. He sat their panting, his eyes wide staring up at her, the purple staff hissing in the grass beside him. She put the red blade to his face, his angular features lighting up with an eerie glow. “Stop.” She said quietly.  
Ben turned the staff off and dropped his head. His eyes were squeezed shut and his breathing didn’t seem to calm. If anything, it picked up.  
“Have I proven myself to you now?!” She spat at him. He didn’t respond. He didn’t even look at her. “Am I a worthy apprentice? Answer me!”  
“That has nothing to do with this!” He snapped back.  
“Then why?! Why Ben?!” He looked up at her now, there was something there. Something he wanted to say? To tell her? He looked like his mind was reeling, thoughts tripping over themselves. He opened his mouth slightly, would he let something out? He said nothing, instead getting to him feet and walking off into the night, leaving her alone. The weight of his lightsaber seemed suddenly monstrously heavy, pulling on her aching arm. She turned off the blade, to ease the pain and left herself standing in darkness. She took both blades back to the ship and although she was burnt out, she stayed awake, waiting for Ben to come back. Hours passed and he didn’t return and she became more and more anxious. After everything, it seemed he was still keeping things from her and he’s rather run away than just tell her. Whatever he was hiding, she was going to find out what it was.  
Determined, she reached out to him. He wasn’t far, his aura guarded but peaceful. He was asleep. When she finally saw him, she saw him lying on his back across a stone bed, his long legs extending beyond the short plinth and almost resting on the floor. One of his arms was under his head, protecting his skull from the cold stone and the other was splayed across his stomach. She could feel the heat from the dying embers of a fire behind her and when she looked around at the stone walls and the thatched roof, Rey knew exactly where he was. She cut off their connection, not wanting him to somehow figure out what she was going to do, and she leaped to her feet and sprinted out into the night.  
She reached the small village huts quickly and she slowed down to a stealthy walk, silently approaching the only hut with a glowing light inside. She pressed a hesitant hand against the door and slowly pushed it open. The breeze the came in the hut with her stirred the remnants of the fire, ash blew towards the sleeping man and the fire almost ignited again. She paused, waiting to see if he stirred. His light snoring urged her on. She moved to kneel beside his head. She been with him while he slept before, she’d noted how calm he looked when his torment wasn’t weighing on his every action. She had enjoyed these times but not this time. Now her intentions were dark and his peacefulness tugged on the guilt inside her. She reached a hand out to his head, she had been determined when she set out but now she was hesitant. She had asked him, he could have just spoken to her. Now this was her only option. She held her hand just by his head and using the Force, she gently pushed inside.  
Rey’s head darted around. Trying to place herself. She couldn’t though, she was somewhere she’d never been before. She wished she had though, this place was beautiful. It had the scenic beauty of Ach-to without the lonely remoteness of the island. The trees surrounding her bloomed with pink and yellow flower blossoms that showered the green grass with colour when a breeze blew. Nestled in amongst the coloured treetops was an intricate, stone building. It was beautiful and relatively new. Rey knew run down when she saw it and this definitely wasn’t. It was huge and ornate and she couldn’t really place it. She’d never seen anything like before and nothing around it gave any clue to what it was. It was only when she saw movement, a man in brown robes who turned and looked through her, that she realised where she was. The man was Luke, and this was his Temple. Luke spryly took the steps two per stride and quickly he was inside the Temple. Rey stepped to follow him when she heard a small sigh behind her. She turned around, realising that Luke had turned to look at the little boy who sat in the grass behind her. He sat with a large rock held in mid-air a few inches above the palm of his small hand. He sat staring at the closed Temple doors, his rock trick taking absolutely now effort to uphold. His eyes were unmistakable, dark pupils set in pale skin. His sharp features hadn’t formed yet, lying dormant somewhere underneath the plump cheeks of childhood. There was no doubt in Rey’s mind however, it was Ben. Rey moved closer and sat in the grass with him. Taking in everything she could about him. He didn’t seem aware of her and she was unsure if she was observing a dream or a memory. They sat there alone for a long time, Rey wondered what he was thinking. Left to his own devices by his uncle, about 8 or 9 years old and powerful, what was going on in his head? The large Temple doors creaking open broken the silence and with Ben, Rey turned her attention to the sound. Luke re-emerged from the stone Temple but he wasn’t alone anymore. Rey rose to her feet as she watched the young Jedi Master approach her. Her looked much younger than she knew him, he was handsome. Rey’s breath hitched in her chest when she looked at the person accompanying him. From the scarred slave marks on her arms, Rey’s eyes ran up the woman to her face, to her eyes. Hazel eyes. Rey’s eyes. Her round face, her mousey brown hair. She looked exactly like Rey! Rey breathed unevenly, her heart beat racing in her ears. She couldn’t be related the woman could she? It was unmistakable! They looked exactly alike! She didn’t get the chance to process everything in front of her before another small movement caught her eye.  
“Ben.” Luke said. “There’s someone I want you to meet.” As he spoke, the woman who resembled Rey reached an arm behind her and when she brought her hand back, another smaller hand was clasped inside it. A little dark haired boy, about 8 years old, hesitantly peered around the woman to look at Ben. “This is Nichos. He’s just like you and you’re going to help each other.” The boy, Nichos, clung to the woman, burying his face in her tattered clothes.  
“Say hello Nichos.” The woman said. Nichos shyly held out his had to Ben and Ben reached up and took it. Rey’s eyes widened as she stared at the slave marks burned into the 8 year old’s arm and she gasped.  
She was painfully thrust back to reality with a large hand tightly grasping her outstretched wrist. Ben’s eyes were wide and staring at her. She didn’t know when the tears started but they were there and she didn’t know what emotion they were conveying.  
“What. Was that?”

*****

“Rey.”  
She saw everything. Reliving that memory. Knowing what he knew now, the memory held so much more than he’d ever known. When he thought back now, there was no way he could deny the woman from his memory was Rey’s mother. As soon as he saw the marks on Rey’s tanned skin, he knew. And he knew that he couldn’t tell her. Looking at the tears streaming down her cheeks, he knew that was a mistake.  
“You lied to me.” She said. It wasn’t heated, it wasn’t shouting, it wasn’t full of hate or rage but the statement cut through him like his own lightsaber ripping him apart.  
“Rey, I …” He started but he didn’t know what to say that she hadn’t already seen. She pulled her arm free from his grasp and backed away from him.  
“Who was she Ben?” She asked softly.  
“I think she was you mother.” He admitted. She nodded, unable to look at him.  
“And the boy?”  
“Nichos is your brother.” Rey said nothing. She turned and left. “Rey!” Ben leapt to his feet and rushed after her. It was lighter now, the planet’s two suns just beginning to breach the ocean horizon, Rey just ahead of him marching like a dainty tornado. “Rey, what are you doing?!”  
“I’m going there.” Ben sped up slightly to catch her by the arm. He pulled her to a stop and reluctantly, finally she looked up at him, fire burning in her eyes. He dropped her arm.  
“No. You’re not.” He told her, without confidence.  
“I am. Either you come with me or you stay here but I’ll be gone on that ship before the first sun rises.” He didn’t want to do this. It was a terrible, dangerous idea. But she couldn’t go alone. And he couldn’t stay stranded here. Ben sighed. “That’s what I thought.” Rey continued her march back to the ship and Ben followed very close behind, lest he be left behind. While Rey bundled their stuff from outside into the storage room, Ben took advantage of his moment alone on the bridge. This was another thing he really didn’t want to do but he had no other choice. He pushed in the comms button and cleared his throat.  
“General? ...” He waited, throwing a glance over his shoulder. “… Mother?” He waited again.  
“Ben?” Her voice came out the speaker and Ben became both relieved and incredibly anxious at the same time. “Oh, Ben!” Her voice started to break.  
“It’s me. I don’t have long so please listen.” He said, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible. It had been so long since he had spoken to his mother and he didn’t dare to relive what he said to her. “We’re about to do something incredibly stupid and reckless.”  
“What? Ben, what’s going on? Rey said you were safe.” She was starting to panic. His mother never panicked. He needed her to listen to him and not lose it completely.  
“We were, please. I need your help.” He could hear her still fussing on the other end but she said nothing. “We’re going to Yavin 4.”  
“We’re leave straight away.” She chimed in quickly.  
“No! No, don’t. The First Order doesn’t know where you are, keep it that way. We just need a bit of back up.” He didn’t want the words to come out of his mouth but he knew who he needed, who would protect Rey as much as himself. “Send the pilot.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey sees the old Skywalker Temple and Poe has to make a daring rescue.

Rey knew that this was risky and dangerous but after everything she had learned in the past few hours there was only one place she wanted to be. She had to see the place for herself, try and find some connection, any connection to her family. Ben had tried to dissuade her, warn her of the dangers that she was already well aware of. But she didn’t listen to him. She could barely look at him. After everything they had been through together, discovering this new power within themselves with only each other to depend on and he had lied to her. He knew how important the possibility of her family was to her, he’d seen it in her mind the very first time they had met and this is what he lied to her about. To hide their existence from her. She had to wonder why. Could it be that her brother perished at his hand? Her heart ached at the thought and she found that his company was too difficult to keep right now. So she rose from the pilot’s seat and left for the sleeping quarters, unable to bare his presence a minute longer.

He watched her leave, his expression fallen and ashamed. He didn’t more to stop her, probably feeling it himself that that would have been a mistake. She was glad he just left her to her anger but when she shut herself in the sleeping chambers, she found that it wasn’t just anger she was harbouring. She crumpled to the floor, struggling to breath. Her chest was tight and she clutched at it, breathing heavily trying to sort through the emotions tumbling through her. Anger, hurt, betrayal, loss, loneliness, anxiety. She’d never felt this way before, suffocating under her own emotions. She panted and choked and found the only way to relieve the pain she was in was to sob. Each one an echo of heartbreak, a release of sorrow. She felt him, his presence dancing on the edges of her mind, drawn to her heart ache, his intention to comfort evident but he didn’t. He kept his distance and she was thankful for it, she just wanted to release all the emotions inside her before they drowned her.

She sat in the dark, exhausted and spent, for how long, she had no idea. It was only interrupted by a small knock on the metal door at her back. He didn’t say anything, just knocked. When she could finally emerge, Rey slowly approached the bridge and looked at the new world outside.  There were huge tree trunks all around the ship, Rey couldn’t even see any foliage, the trees were so massive the leaves started miles above them. Without a word to her co-pilot, Rey exited the luxury ship and out into the surrounding forest. Ben followed her, his mother’s blue coat in his hands and handed it to her, along with her staff.

“Where are we?” She croaked, her throat raw and sore. He didn’t comment on it.

“We’re not far. Just beyond those trees.” He said solemnly. There was something different about him, something off. She could feel lit through the Force. Like his skin was crawling, he wanted to be anywhere else but here. “Come. I’ll take you.” He held out his hand to her. Her gaze dropped to his outstretched hand and back to his face, the expression there reminding her of the last time her offered her his hand. She stepped past him and walked on, into the trees and he followed. It wasn’t long they were fighting through the ground foliage when the darkness of the trees overhead began to lighten. Rey stepped out from beyond the tree line and stopped suddenly. It was familiar and wrong all at once and it hit her like a punch to the gut. She realised only now that the beautiful temple building she’d seen in Ben’s mind was indeed a memory, both he and Luke had told her as much. What lay in front of her now was a pile of rubble and ash. Tall spires crumbled to dust, intricate carving on the stone walls were no just decorative rocks on the ground, the edges of everything tinged with scorch marks and blood. Greenery had started to reclaim the land, slowly burying the past as if it were never there. Rey’s breath hitched in her throat at the sight, how was she ever going to find anything in this destruction. She turned to look at Ben, who understandably looked down at his feet, unable to face the ruins that he had caused. When he finally looked at her, his eyes only conveyed sadness and regret.

“You did this?” Rey asked him quietly, her voice only audible due to the eerie silence around them. She already knew the answer but she wanted to hear him say it. Hear him admit that not only had he lied to her about knowing her family, that it was his fault that any possibility of knowing them was gone. “Ben.” She snapped sternly.

“Yes.” He admitted quietly. Rey turned back to the rubble and slowly approached the remains of the Jedi Temple. “Rey …” Ben started, a warning in his voice. Rey ignored it. She began to climb the charred rocks and as she rose up, she tried to find an entrance around where she remembered it, a gap or hole, anything. She found what resembled the old, majestic doors but there was no way into the rubble. Just the remains of the building, collapsed in on itself. She held her hand out and reached towards the rubble with the Force. Ben was behind her now, his hand on her shoulder. “Rey. Don’t.” His voice begging her not to do what she was about to. She shrugged him off of her and turned to glare at him, fire burning in her eyes. He recoiled from her and looked away from the scene, not willing to watch what was about to happen. Rey turned back and manipulated the Force around and through the boulders, lifting them from their tumbling place that they settled in a long time ago. She lifted the rocks high in the air and with a flick of her hand, they dispersed, flying outwards crashes against the ground around them and shattering trees. Rey gasped at the sight she unearthed, her knees buckled and she crumpled to the ground.

By the threshold of the old temple, just beyond where the grand entrance once stood, lay dozens of charred, crushed skeletons. Some long like the size of Rey and some tiny, barely more than children. Rey began to hyperventilate. How? How could the same man that she’d come to care about, the one with so much Light in him, cause such terror? The bodies lay crushed under the collapsed rocks in their attempt to escape, lightsabers clutched in their hands, ready to defend their temple. Their lights had been snuffed out. She looked to Ben, who couldn’t even face the aftermath of his betrayal of his Master. But Rey wouldn’t look away from him, not until he looked at her, looked at the carnage around her and look at what he did. Her anger begn to rise, pulling Darkness up with it. The Dark in her growing at the sight of the coward who couldn’t even face the children that he had killed. When he finally did, his eyes glassy and his breathing ragged.

“Is this the end my brother was condemned to?” She asked him. Ben shook his head.

“No.” Rey looked back at the bodies, wondering if Ben was lying to her again and her brother’s body lay somewhere beside her.

“What happened to him Ben?” she whispered, fury bubbling up underneath.

“I put my lightsaber through his chest.”

 

* * *

 

 

Ben was no stranger to pain. He’d felt it most of his life. Being alone, needing his parents when Snoke began to whisper to the embers of Darkness laying inside him, stoking that fire he was never able to come back from. Until Rey. The fire was still there but so was Rey, calming the fire whenever he needed her too. He’d felt pain with her too. In the beginning it was his need of her when he knew he could never have her, then it was her rejection when they’d finally got to a place where he felt safe around her and now it was her dragging him back into the Light. But being back on Yavin 4 was a whole new kind of hurt. The kind filled with regret and finality. He was never going to be able to undo the damage he did that night and this place only reminded him of that. And the pain he felt coming through the Force bond, was threatening to drown him. It torn him up inside and he could see the way he felt all over Rey’s broken face. That was him. His fault she felt like that but that was the way it had to be.

“Rey, I-” He started but she held up a hand to silence him.

“Don’t dare tell me you’re sorry.” She snapped at him. “Tell them.” Rey pointed down at the crushed bones before leaving Ben there alone, surrounded by the destruction he left in his wake. He’d never been back here since that night. He couldn’t face it. At the time, he was sure he was right. Being who he needed to be and taking down anyone who would try to stop him. He followed after Rey.

“Rey. Please.” He begged her. “Rey, please, let me at least try to explain it to you.”

“You can _try_ , but nothing is going to bring those children back!” Rey pointed behind him and yelled.

“Rey, I was just a child myself, with Snoke whispering Darkness into my head. He believed I could be great, be just as powerful as my grandfather.”

“Darth Vader?” Ben nodded in response.

 “I began to believe him too, it was all I wanted. It started that night, when I raised this place to the ground and left it all behind. I became just like him, I murdered children and lost everyone I ever cared about.”

“You didn’t though.” Rey said.

“What?” Ben said, confused.

“You didn’t lose everyone. You took Serafin with you.” Rey told him.

“Serafin?” Rey had talked to Serafin? How much did she already know? Everything he was doing could be all for nothing if Serafin already told Rey something she shouldn’t have.

“In your Darkest moment, you saved her. Because you loved her and she loved you … loves you.” Rey said quietly. Ben nodded.

“I realise now that that’s true.” He told her. “After all the terrible things I did, I couldn’t bring myself to kill my best friend.” Rey watched him. “Rey. There’s nothing that I can ever do to fix this, nothing. I know that. But we can make sure it never happens again. That no lost child will be led astray.” He couldn’t be certain but her expression seemed to soften. He had been heard but not forgiven.

“What do you mean?” Rey said, looking up at him, confusion set in her brows.

“The lightsabers. We need to take them.”

“What?” she almost screeched. She stepped in front of him, seeming to try and separate him from the unearthed graves. “You want to take their lightsabers?”

“Rey, they can’t be left here. Who knows who could end up with them. They’ll be safe with us.” She watched him, eyes unsure. He understood her trepidation, it certainly wasn’t something he wanted to do but he knew that she couldn’t deny that he was right. She stepped to the side and handed her satchel to him. He gave her a small nod and moved past her back to the old temple entrance. She didn’t go with him and he didn’t make her. If she couldn’t do it, he didn’t blame her. He was finding it difficult himself and he’d seen far worse … done far worse. He carefully picked up the cracked broken hilts, salvaging as much as he could. When he couldn’t keep the pieces together, he made sure to grab the krystals. He knew the destruction they could cause and the amount of credits some people would pay to cause it. He bundled them into Rey’s satchel.

An unwelcome arrival interrupted him. The all too familiar groan of engines turning his blood cold. He turned to Rey, her eyes widened. And when the first blasts hit the rubble around them, both Ben and Rey ducked for cover.

“Run, Rey! Run!”

 

* * *

 

 

Tinkering with his new X-wing helped Poe, helped him forget, progress, get back to normality. He was starting to feel like his old self again, messing about with his ship before heading out on a daring mission. He forgot about all the awfulness that had happened, if only for a little while.

He was doing this when Finn came rushing up, tripping over his feet, looking for him.

“Poe! Poe.” He breathed, clearly he’d been running around looking for him for a while, which was odd because he was always here recently. “Poe, there’s someone who wants to talk to you!” Finn told him. The actual statement wasn’t worrisome but Finn’s expression was, something was wrong.

“What is it? Is it Leia, is she okay?” he asked, his own voice a little tinged with concern.

“No, no. She’s fine.” Finn said. Poe relaxed and dropped his tools to the ground.

“Oh, okay. Don’t scare me like that Finn.” He turned and roughly clapped his friend on the shoulder. “What’s up? Who is it?” Finn’s serious expression hadn’t faded.

“You’re not going to like it.”

 

When he got to the Falcon, Finn in tow, he found that it wasn’t empty. Chewie was there and so was Leia, sitting in the co-pilot’s seat looking visibly upset. A chill ran down his spine, instilling fear in every fibre of his body.

“Leia? Is it … is it Rey?” He asked, terrified of the answer. She shook her head. Poe moved forward to sit in the pilot’s seat and pressed the comms. “This is Poe Dameron.”

“I never thought I’d say this but I need your help Dameron.” The voice said. Poe knew that voice, Poe could _never_ forget that voice, having it penetrate his mind a root around, painfully combing through his thought. Anger immediately fired through his veins. He moved to stand up, leave the bastard hanging on the other end but Leia’s hand on his arm, stopped him. Her face pleading. Gripping the mic tighter, he eventually replied.

“What can I do for you _Supreme Leader_?” he hissed.

“Believe me, Dameron. You’re the last person I’d want to speak to.”

“Then what do you want?”

“It’s Rey.” Poe anger fizzled as quickly as it burned. Rey. Poe sighed.

“What do you need?”

“She’s about to do something extremely dangerous. And if it goes south, we’re going to need back up.” Kylo said. Dangerous? He was supposed to be keeping her safe!

“If it’s so dangerous, why are you letting her do it?” Poe snapped.

“No one _lets_ Rey do anything. She does what she wants and we fall in line or get left behind.” Poe knew this to be true. He’d felt it himself. Rey, so strong and powerful. Knowing what’s best. And hearing Kylo Ren admit it, Poe was left a little speechless. Kylo Ren had indeed gone soft, for a girl. When Poe didn’t reply, Kylo continued. “She wants to see the old Skywalker Temple on Yavin 4.”

“What? Why?”

“That doesn’t matter. As soon as we leave here, we’ll be exposed. I need you to meet us there in case we’re found. Take it you know your way to Yavin 4?”

Of course he did. That was his home. He grew up there with his Rebel hero parents playing under the Great uneti tree that grew outside his home. It was a gift from Jedi Master Luke Skywalker himself. Many people said the tree was imbued with the Force. Poe had never known that to be true but then again he was never blessed with the power. He remembered when the Temple was built, running off into the woods, hiding in the trees to watch the Jedi Master his parents told him stories about. He also remembered the night the Temple burned. He woke in the night to screaming. His parents tried to keep him back from the crumbling, firey ruins but he saw enough. The roof collapsed in and the screams stopped. Poe would never forget it. All those lives lost, at the hands of one man. This man.

“I’m familiar.” Poe told him coldy.

“Good. Keep your distance, I don’t want you spooking her.” Poe scoffed. “And I want your word on thing in particular.” Poe remained quiet, loathe to give this madman his word on anything. “I want your word that if the situation should turn dire, that you personally will get her to safety. Any means necessary.” Poe looked to Leia, worry in her eyes. Fear for Rey, for her son, for Poe. “Dameron. Your word.” He snapped.

“You have my word.” Poe told him with the deepest sincerity. It was one thing he would definitely give his word on.

He dropped the comms receiver and marched straight out onto the landing pad.

“BB! Get Black Two ready to fly!”

 

That led him to here. Back home, after all this time. He hadn’t been back here since his parents’ death, avoiding the memories. But he loved his parents, very much and he only now realised that he should have returned a long time ago. While the memories bittersweet now, his life here had been a good one. He sat under the Great Tree for who knows how long, the sky had turned a darker shade now. Curiously, he decided to wander towards the Temple ruins. His X-wing was safely hidden and Finn waited further away with the newly reformed Black Squadron and a small shuttle. There was no harm in him silently approaching. One thought had occurred to him however. If Rey were to have her visit uninterrupted, what was Poe to do in that situation? Could he just let her leave with Kylo Ren, having never known that he was even there?

He approached the edge of the trees and in the burnout clearing, she stood, alone. Her head dropped in sadness her back turned to the ruined temple. He wanted to comfort her. He made to step towards her but paused when the wail of Tie Fighter engines descended overhead.

“Run Rey! Run!” He heard. Rey scrambled but the first blasts struck the ground around her, sending her crashing down.

“Rey!” Poe exclaimed, Rey’s attention immediately on him. Instinctively, Poe rushed out and shot his blaster into the sky, striking a Tie wing. The handling would be off but they’d keep going. It wasn’t enough.

“Poe?!” Rey screamed through the blaster fire. He grabbed his communicator from his pocket.

“Black Squadron, whenever you’re ready to join the party.” He barked snarkily. “Finn! Bring the shuttle! Now!” Poe rushed the Rey’s side, blaster pointed up at the fuel tank of the Tie fighter swopping towards them for another go. He shot and the Tie fighter burst into a firey explosion. HE looked down at Rey. “Hey gorgeous. Ready to lend a hand?” He held out his hand to her, flashing her a smile that always made her smile back at him. She grinned and put her hand and his and he pulled her to her feet. “Glad to see me?” He grinned cockily.

“Very.” She nodded.

“Good. We should have back up any minute now.” Poe told her. Almost on cue, Black Squadron entered the sky scape. Glad his team had the same flare for dramatics he had. “Told ya.” He boasted as his teammates began picking the Tie fighters out of the sky. Rey grinned at him and squeezed his hand. So engrossed in the skies, Poe only noticed the wall of Stormtroopers breaching the clearing when they shot at him. Rey threw her hand out and stopped the blast in mid-air in front of him. Poe stepped aside and she let it continue on its trajectory, missing them entirely. “Uh, Finn. Quick as you can buddy.” He said into the communicator. By this point, Kylo had joined them, both he and Poe flanking Rey on either side, an unspoken contract between them to protect her.

Their lightsabers buzzed to life beside him and Poe stood poised with only his blaster. It wasn’t the first time he had been out gunned and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. As the Stormtropper swarm descended, Poe, Rey and Kylo were deep in the thick of it, Poe shooting back Troopers from himself, from Rey and at times even from Kylo Ren. It wasn’t long before Finn arrived with a small troop of Resistance fighters, blasting their way through the First Order soldiers. Poe was glad for their arrival as it seemed that Rey and Kylo’s attention was drawn to the black figures that were closing in behind them.

Poe tried to keep his eye on her, while still fighting hard in his own battles. He needed to be ready to leave with her if it came down to it. Quickly, Rey and Kylo were engaged in impressive sword play with the red lightsabers of the Knights of Ren. Uncomfortable being this far from her, Poe started to shove his way through the swarming mass but just before he could break out of the crowd, a heart-breaking wail from Kylo Ren made him realise that he was too late.

A red blade, protruded through Rey’s stomach, her movements stilled as she gasped desperately for life. The owner of the blade retracted it and allowed Rey’s body to drop, Kylo swooping his arms out to catch her. She was alive, just barely. He cradled her body on his lap, his expression broken. Poe imagined that his face must look the same. As she lay dying, two of the Knights grabbed Kylo and pulled him away from her. Using Rey to break down his defences and grab him. As he struggled against them, he locked eyes with Poe, who had now realised that he’d been struck frozen.

“Dameron! Dameron!” He screamed while fighting their grip on him. “You gave me your word!” He bellowed at him. Shocked back to life, Poe sprinted to Rey’s body, pulling her into his arms. She was so pale, her skin cold and clammy. The Knights didn’t even acknowledge him or Rey. Their deed had been done. He wanted to put a blaster bolt to each of their faces but he had given his word. Get her out, any means necessary.

“Poe.” She croaked up at him. “I’m sorry, for everything.” Poe gave her a sad smile.

“You hang on and you can make it up to me?” he tried to joke. She smiled before her eyes fluttered closed and her head dropped back.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben's capture and torture takes a shocking turn for someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I've been really worried about writing this chapter. It's been something I've been thinking about and planning for a long time now and I found it hard to put it together in a way that kept mystery and unveiled things at the same time.
> 
> I sincerely hope, from the bottom of my heart that you like it <3

__

 

_He could feel their Force signatures before he saw them. Rey felt it too. Together, they stopped fighting and turned towards the incoming storm that was going to leave destruction in its wake. 5 masked figures slowly surrounded them and Rey drew closer to him as well. Side by side, they circled taking in their assailants, assessing their situation and deciding when and who to strike first. As Ben’s eyes scanned the familiar Knights around him, he didn’t see Goran. In the moment, he was relieved but he couldn’t shake the feeling that the now Commander of the Knights of Ren’s absence was a very bad thing._

_When the first of his brothers finally decided to strike, the blow was sloppy, unrestrained, angry. This wasn’t just an order, this was personal. Payback for all the brutal training he’s put them through, all the harsh punishments he handed out when they had failed him and after all that, he turned his back on them. If they weren’t going to hold anything back, then neither would he. He’d meet them blow by blow and give as good as he gets. They’d feel the wrath of their Master._

_Their red sabers clashed in a loud crack. The sound, a call to the other Knights that Ben wasn’t about to go quietly. Rey’s purple lightsaber ignited, declaring that neither would she. They were smart. They attacked one at a time, each time they would get dealt a blow, they dipped out of the fight so another one of the brethren could take over. They shared and conserved their energy, all the while Ben and Rey couldn’t take a breath or pause even for a moment. The barrage never stopped, draining them quicker and quicker while their next attack geared up on the side lines._

_When Serafin finally attacked, it was Ben she went for. She dove in swiftly, her lightsaber swinging but ultimately missing. Ben deflected her easily. Too easily. She was better than this. Ben had known Serafin most of his life, he’d trained her himself, even more than the others and she was a more than worthy opponent. Her movements now were lack lustre, slow, undetermined. Like she wasn’t even trying. Ben stopped for a moment to catch his breath and Serafin let him. She waited for him to become ready again, almost as if nothing ever happened and they were back in the training room just sparring. Before they could strike blows again, another red lightsaber decided to take a shot at him. Serafin’s hesitation got her ousted, she stood as an onlooker, until she went for her shot at Rey._

_The two women battled. Somehow elegantly, with a grace that no man could ever master. Their movements were deadly and beautiful and he wished that he could watch their dance under any other circumstances. Even so, their movements were reserved. He could see they were holding their strength back, both of them. Neither of them wanted to harm the other. Evading around each other, never actually attempting to deal a fatal blow. He had warned Rey that they would not hesitate to kill her, it seems that he may have misjudged Serafin’s loyalties._

_“Ben.” Her voice came through the bond loud and strong, cutting through the clashes of light blades. He turned to he, her hand reached out to him. “Take my hand! Now!” Her words came through urgently. He pushed back his brother at his brother, just needing to fend him off long enough to reach her. His arm painfully outstretched until he managed to grip her fingers. There it was again, that surge of intense, pure power. It still took his breath away, all the nerves in his body tingling with it. Rey, somehow so in tune with it, seemed like she harnessed this power all along. She wielded it with such ease, the power fuelling her rather than winding her, like it did to him. She summoned it from the both of them, he could feel it moving from his body to hers and back again. Much to his bafflement, she holstered her lightsaber and outstretched her now empty hand. The Knights were closing in, all of them this time, not taking a chance on this new power that they could obviously sense. Just before they managed to strike, Rey flayed her fingers and the black cloaked figures snapped to attention before collapsing to the ground._

_Rey let go of Ben’s hand and he was strangely relieved at the feeling of being able to breathe again. She turned to face him, proud of her victory but when Ben saw her looking at him, his stomach dropped. The situation eerily familiar, he’d seen that look on her face before._

_“Rey.” He whispered. He tried to say more but no words came. She smiled at him sweetly, the smile he’d hoped he would never see on her face. It was happening, the moment he’d fought so hard against and now he was helpless to stop it. Time seemed to slow down and yet he still couldn’t seem to move fast enough. He reached for her, hoping to whisk her away before it happened but it was too late. Before his eyes, the red lightsaber burst through her stomach, Rey’s beautiful smile gone, her face contorted in pained confusion._

_“No!” He screamed but his own wail was lost in the rushing of his pulse in his ears. The blade retracted and Rey clutched at her gaping wound. Ben only got there in time for her to fall into his arms and he sat with her clutched to his chest, exactly as he had done once before, in the mirror cave._

_He brushed the stray hairs back from her face and held her tightly as she panting and gasped for air. Goran stood there watching, his saber at his side, allowing Ben this moment to grieve as Rey died in his arms. The realisation dawned on him too late. Killing Rey was the distraction all along, a trap set specifically for him. While his back was turned, his lightsaber extinguished, his arms grasping at her, his spirit broken, that would be their time to get him. It worked so well that he didn’t notice the two Knights approach him from behind and grab him, pulling him away from Rey. Her body dropped to the ground and Goran stepped over her to lead the Knights off._

_“Dameron! Dameron!” Ben screamed and screamed but the pilot was nowhere to be seen. He had given him his word! He should have been there, when Rey needed him. Through the fight, Ben was unsure if he could even be heard, if his voice was even still there. He was dragged off, away from the fight, away from Rey. He struggled hard, viciously, almost making it away from them several times and Goran had had enough. He struck Ben with the strongest bolt of Force lightning he could muster, knocking Ben unconscious. The only comfort that Ben could take with him was that the last thing he saw was Poe Dameron the Resistance hero, scooping Rey up in his arms and sprinting away from the battle._

They had descended on them like shadows. The blur of noise above them, the myriad of chaos around them. It was all misdirection so that when they finally came into play, they could blindside. It was all a perfectly choreographed show and everyone played their part spectacularly, just the way he had trained them to do. He’d seen this play out so many times before, the surprise entrance taking their opponents unguarded. He’d played his own part for a long time but now it was different. He was the prey. He knew how the scene would begin, he knew how the story was going to play out and deep down, he knew that he hadn’t done enough to change what the ending would be. But knowing all this didn’t make it any less earth shattering to watch. Over and over again.

Ben woke with a start, again. He’d had to watch his worst nightmare play out over and over, hundreds of times already, each time crushing him as much as it did the first time. Goran Ren sat in front of him, relaxed back in a chair, using Ben’s mind as his own personal holovid player. He’d strapped Ben into one of the First Order’s stronger interrogation chambers. The kind they used for the bigger brutes that they captured. There was one major difference to this interrogation, there were no questions, only torture. That and Ben was stripped bare down to his waist, unsightly gashes marred his torso, his body bleeding out onto the grates in the floor. Ben had developed this technique himself, a technique for keeping down a Force user. He’d never had the chance to test his theories but it seemed that they worked perfectly well, unfortunately for Ben. He’d been awake for days, starved for longer. Given the smallest amounts of water to drink to ensure he stayed alive but he was bleeding out constantly, forced to heal himself with Force power. He was drained, in every sense of the word. He could barely move, he could barely speak but that was entirely the point. Anytime he drifted off to sleep, the Knights took turns to play nightmares in his head to keep him awake. And Goran had found his favourite nightmare to replay.

“Y’know, my favourite part is when you realise that it’s a trap. The look on your face.” Goran said, his voice laced with mocking undertones. “That’s the beauty of doing your own dirty work. Those moments are priceless.” He hissed from behind his mask. Ben said nothing. A hostile response is what Goran was looking for and exactly what he wasn’t going to get. When he got nothing, Goran sighed and reached up to unclick his mask, the front panel hissing open and he slid it off his head. Menacingly, Goran began slowing rolling up the sleeves of his tunic. “Aren’t you going to ask me why?”

“What?” Ben croaked in confusion.

“Y’know the usual questions. Why am I doing this? Why do I hate you? That kind of thing.” Ben scoffed, as much as he could anyway without coughing up his own blood.

“I know why. You’re so plainly predictable.” Goran smirked at him.

“Go on then, tell me why I hate you.” He goaded.

“You never got to see your family again and big, bad Kylo Ren wouldn’t let you seek them out. I’ve heard the sob story.” Ben snapped at him. A chuckle wasn’t the response Ben was expecting. Goran approached Ben bound body and pulled a small blade from his belt. He placed the tip off it against Ben’s skin and slowly dragged the sharp blade through the soft flesh. Ben let out a sharp hiss at the white hot heat of the recycled air hitting his open wound.

“And that’s where _you_ are so plainly predictable. So self-involved, the Master of the Knights of Ren really had no control over his brethren.” Goran hissed. “You see, I found my parents a long time ago.” Goran smiled now, it must be from the look of complete bafflement spreading across Ben’s face.

“What? Why didn’t you-” He managed.

“Go back to them?” Goran finished. “Because I did something better.  You see, when they finally saw me again, they didn’t look at me the way they used to. I was a different person now and they looked at me with fear and hatred in their eyes.” Ben suddenly felt a pang of empathy for the man. He himself had seen that look in the eyes of everyone he’d ever cared about and it was painful. “But they were right, I wasn’t the little boy they had known anymore, he was gone. But not in their memories, there he was still alive. So I did what I had to do, I killed them both. I left their bodies on the dusty planet they cowered on and never looked back. Honestly, it was only recently that I realised that you were unworthy of my following. The mighty Kylo Ren killed his own father and the deed shattered him to pieces. I killed my entire family and I ended up stronger for it.”

Ben had no words. His fragile mind tumbled over itself, threatening to break completely. So may secrets fitting together and combining in his head, everything starting to make sense to him now. His heart rate spiked, no doubt pumping the blood out his gashes faster. Goran studied him looking for an expression, a fleeting emotion, a reaction. He couldn’t risk showing anything but the longer Ben held everything in, the more suspicious Goran’s observing became.

“Nervous?” Ben remained silent for fear of revealing himself. Unfortunately, that seemed to reveal more than words could. “What are you hiding Master Ren?” Goran leaned in, his face so close to Ben’s as if the proximity would reveal his secrets. Goran’s hand came up to Ben’s face and quickly, Ben felt the familiar pain of having two people in his head. He guarded his memories with a brutal defiance which only made Goran press more. Rooting around viciously, ripping apart his brain until he could punch through the wall that Ben had put up to guard his memories. “The harder you fight me, the more it’ll hurt. You know that.”

Fighting it in his state was killing him, he could feel it. He supposed if he died, the secrets in his head died with him, it wasn’t such a bad idea. Rey would be disappointed in him, rolling over instead of pushing back. That’s what she would do, it’s what she had done so many times already. Then again, he didn’t even know if she was still alive. He’d tried to reach out, to see if she was out there somewhere reaching back but he was so weak that he wasn’t even sure if he had the power left in him. He hoped that was the reason he hadn’t seen her, the alternative hurt too much. The only comfort that he could give himself was that in all the stories of a Force bond, it was said that if one half of the bond were to die, the other would be in an irrevocable amount of anguish. As if a huge hole had been ripped where their heart should be and Ben wasn’t feeling that pain just yet.

“Show me before it kills you.” Goran hissed as he pushed further, ripping a pained wail from Ben’s chest. The wall inside his head burst, crumbling down as the memories hidden there were ripped out and played out in his head.

_He saw Rey, lonely, sleeping the shell of an old AT-AT. Memories he’d seen in her head a long time ago. Left behind on a forgotten planet. He saw Rey, ashamed, hiding her slave scars from his curious gaze. He remembered the woman from his childhood with the little boy in her hand. Her resemblance to Rey deniable. He saw Rey’s angry discovery that he’s lied to her about that memory, that the woman was not only her mother but that she had a brother too. He also saw Rey’s heartbreak over the unearthed graves of the ruined Temple and Ben telling her that it was him that killed her brother._

The relief of the pressure inside is head was very welcome. Ben’s body relaxed as much as it could while still being strapped to the chair. There was breathless panting, heart pounding but it wasn’t Ben’s.

“Killing your parents messed you up more than you think it did. You’ve traumatised yourself so much that you didn’t even recognise the face of your own mother. But I did.” Goran stared at Ben wide-eyed, breathless, speechless. Ben looked between Goran’s manic expression and the all too familiar white scar lines that marred his forearms. “It seems that we’re not so different after all. Look at you, shattered to pieces, realising that you did actually kill your _entire_ family, Nikos.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Were you shocked or did you see it coming? Let me know!


	20. Chapter 20

"Damn it Rey!" Poe rushed her limp body off the small craft as fast as he could. He wasn't the strongest guy in the Galaxy, his arms were aching, heavy and sore but there was no way in hell that he was going to stop and rest. Rey's limp form was draped across his forearms, her paling body held tight to his chest. She wasn't bleeding, the lightsaber seemed to have cauterised the wound but he had no idea what internal organs it ruptured in it's brief flash through her torso. Poe was only a pilot, he didn't know about these things, he didn't know the finer details of lightsaber wounds. All he did know was that he had to get Rey to the medical bay fast, faster than he could carry himself.

Still, he ran. His legs feeling heavy and slow, thudding loudly though the shiny corridors of the new Resistance hideout on Cloud City. Faces gave him confused and worried looks as he passed, familiar and unfamiliar, he ignored them all. He had promised to protect her at all costs, he promised!

"Meds! I need help! Hurry!" Poe screamed as soon as he could see the outline of the Medical Bay in the distance. His voice carried and within seconds, he was rushed by Resistance medical crew and Cloud City crew, both desperate to save the girl in his arms. A hundred hands reached and grabbed and took Rey from him and as soon as she was on a trolley, she was whisked away from him. Poe finally allowed himself to breathe, heavy and laboured and without Rey's weight in his arms, his body parts felt like nothing. They softened and collapsed under him until he was slouched on the floor in the corridor, his limbs completely dead. People tried to help him, he could only tell because his view of Rey's disappearing gurney was blocked by their faces. He didn't feel their helpful hands trying to lift his body and he couldn't hear their words of encouragement over the rushing blood in his ears. He closed his eyes and blocked them out entirely.

His return journey with Rey's lifeless body seemed like it spanned a lifetime but he could recall the dreaded event as if it was happening right at this moment. Seeing the blade of light blast through her body as if she was made of nothing but air, struck Poe like a brutal blow to the stomach. Witnessing the one thing that he had been so determined to stop, his legs just not propelling him fast enough to intervene. The scene punctuated with the blood chilling wail of Kylo Ren made a shiver run down Poe's spine. He had encountered Ren only a few times in his life and every single time the Supreme Leader had shown himself to be cold, cruel and brutal with not only Poe but with men, women and children alike. The one exception to this was today. When Kylo Ren let out a heart breaking scream seeing Jakku scavenger Rey be brutally killed by one of his own knights. Poe would never forget that sound. It was the same sound his heart made the day his parents died.

"Poe?" a familiar worried voice cut through his thoughts and brought him back to the world around him. When he opened his eyes, Leia's worried expression filled his vision. Behind her, Lando was pushing and ushering back the crowd that had swarmed him when he collapsed. He must have looked frantic because Leia tried to pull his attention back to her. "What happened Poe?"

"I- Rey, she-" Poe tried to get words out but his voice was hoarse from panting and the words came out as croaks. He tried to swallow, to take a breath. He didn't even know where to start. Leia motioned for him to slow down.

"One things at a time, Poe. What happened with Rey?" Poe nodded. He needed to pull himself together.

"They were ambushed. It was planned, like they knew they were coming." Poe started. "We came in as soon as we saw them. The Knights of Ren went straight for Rey and Kylo. It tried to make my way towards them but I wasn't fast enough, Rey she- the big one, he got her."

"Got her?" Leia asked.

"Yeah! He shoved his god damn lightsaber right through her!" Poe burst. Gasps and murmurs came from the nearby crowd. Leia's eyebrows creased, the way she did when she lost crew members but had to keep a brave facade.

"Rey, is she-?" Poe knew what she was asking and if he was being honest he had absolutely no idea.

"I don't know! She wasn't bleeding or anything but she was so cold! They took her." Poe gestured behind the General towards the Med bay. Leia nodded. If she was dead, surely they would have just said so?

"And Ben?" She asked, lowering her voice to a whisper.

"I don't know what happened after that. He told me to get her out of there and quite honestly, I wasn't going to risk losing Rey to hang around." Poe almost snapped. Rey's life was far higher in his priorities than Kylo Ren's but as he often forgot, he was still Leia's son. "Sorry Leia."

"No, you did the right thing Poe. Rey needed you and you have probably saved her life." Leia assured him. Leia was always good at being hopeful in the face of adversity but this time her expressive eyes betrayed her.

Poe began to scramble to his feet, fighting the tingling feeling coming back into his limbs. Around them, Lando had dispersed the hanging crowd. Probably not wanting them to hear anymore about the possible loss of their Jedi. The departing crowd began to murmur and Poe turned towards them. He watched the crowd be parted down the middle, someone shoving through towards him.

When Finn burst through the crowd, Poe had barely begun to react to the sight of his friend when Finn's large fist struck right across Poe's jaw. Gasps and yelps reached Poe's ears and Leia's was loudest of all.

"Finn!" She exclaimed. She moved forward to step between the two friends but Poe held out his arm to stop her. Rubbing his aching jaw, his eyes met Finn's. Finn's burning with fury. He needed this. Finn threw another punch and Poe didn't flinch, he just let it land.

"You promised." Finn said his voice dark, furious. He punched Poe again. "You promised to keep her safe."

"I know." Poe managed to answer. The warm taste of iron was on his tongue and he wiped the red wetness off his lips.

"No 'sorry' or nothing then?" Finn snapped and slammed his fist into Poe's gut.

"Finn that's enough!" Leia shouted. She stepped in and shoved Finn back. "It wasn't his fault!" She defended him although Poe wished she wouldn't, it just made him feel all the more guilty.

"Well who's is it then?" Finn bit back. "'Cause those two made a stupid pact to safe Rey and both of them were god damn useless!" Finn shoved past Poe, allowing him a moment to lick his wounds and started to march towards the med bay. "I want to see her." He demanded.

"You're not going in there until you've calmed down." Leia told him and she motioned to 2 Resistance crew members to apprehend Finn. When they grabbed him, he immediately began to thrash around. "Finn, please." Leia begged and he began to simmer down. "Rey's is getting all the help she needs right now but you can help her by telling us exactly what happened." Finn stilled at Leia's words and shook off Leia's makeshift henchmen.

"After Rey went down, they grabbed Kylo Ren." Finn explained. "Once they had him, the fighting seemed to abruptly stop. The Stormtroopers just about turned and marched off. I think they got what they came for, everything else – Rey – it was all just a distraction."

"They took him alive?" Leia clarified.

"He's alive for now." Finn added.

"Ben's strong willed. He always has been. He can take care of himself until we can track them down."

"I don't know Leia." Finn said, doubt in his voice. "What they did to Rey, it did something to him. I've never heard anyone make a sound like that. It was awful. He didn't look like himself. He looked-"

"Destroyed." Poe finished for him.

*****

When the comms crackled to life, Hux's skin tingled with anticipation. Whether the Knights of Ren had failed or succeeded, it meant nothing to him. His own plan was already in the works and when it came to fruition, the Knights of Ren, Ben Solo, his mother, her Resistance pets and even the beautiful Rey would all be specs of dust floating in the vacuum of deep space. It did excite him to know what happened though, like a dramatic story playing out before him.

"Sir. The Knights of Ren have captured the traitor Kylo Ren and are holding him aboard the Supremacy." Hux's indifference became a full blown grin. Turns out he was more interested than he'd previously thought.

"That is good news. And the girl?"

"Dead sir." Shame, Hux thought. He had planned on attempting to get her to join him when he excelled, she would have made excellent partner but she was becoming a thorn in his side.

"Good, good. I will send word when my base is ready and I want Kylo Ren transported here when I do. By force if necessary."

"Yes sir." The voice confirmed. Hux's mood had brightened considerably at the news and as his destination loomed into view, Hux felt unstoppable. He approached the planet and could see the beautiful ruins of a forgotten super weapon sitting menacingly in the waves of a dark ocean. Yes, soon the Galaxy would be under the formidable thumb of Armitage Hux.


	21. Chapter 21

Why it was called the Forest Moon of Endor, Hux had no clue. Granted it was fairly populated by lush treetops but as he encircles the tiny lump of rock on his approach, he noted that the greenery made up barely 50% of the surface. The forestry broken up by rough, dry landscapes; dank, dark swamp lands; blue, crystal lakes and grey, stormy seas. It really was quite a unique place. Hux had visited before in his youth, brought here by his father. Being hot on his father's heels most of his life, he was rarely awarded serene views such as this and never flying on his own. The man was a strict, unyielding father with a fierce wicked temper and on the rare occasion that his son thought of him, Armitage was glad he was well rid of the old fool. A man content in his station, proud of his lowly place in a grand pecking order. As soon as Hux was old enough to comprehend this, his father lost the power that Hux as a child had bestowed upon him and he had made it his lifes goal to surpass his old man in all arenas. Now here he was, answering to no one, a stone's throw away from the majesty of Supreme Leader, his father's legacy now similar to a bug on the underside of his boot. His lips curled up into a disgusting smile at the thought, the heel of his boot crushing down on the man's decrepit, scrawny, turkey neck until his eyes bulged and his struggling stopped. Hux recalled the memory so vividly it was almost as if it happened yesterday. According to First Order records, it never happened at all. Hux's dear father, honoured First Order Officer was brutally murdered in his own chambers by an "unknown assilant", his death inspiring Hux to climb the hierarchy. It made for a lovely story and Hux's life much more pleasant. However, his position wouldnt stay his for long if he didn't make a drastic change to keep everything that is his, everything that he had earned, that he deserved.

He saw the familiar looming shape from miles out. He knew it so well, had marvelled at it and then later studied it. It beauty and destruction was stuff of legends and seeing it now, in ruins being battered by the harsh, freezing waves, it still took his breath away.

"Sir." His comms buzzed. "Our team's search has proved to be fruitless, we turned up nothing."

""I thought as much, had to be sure." Hux responded flatly. He appreciated the anxious tone in his Commander's but it didn't come close to the unbridled fear that Ren instilled in them. Soon he would have the same affect. "Rendezvous with me ... and bring the fallen Supreme Leader with you."

"But sir-"

"The Knights of Ren will bring the prisoner quietly and willingly or they will be executed where they stand like the scum they are! Have I made myself perfectly clear!?" Hux snapped back.

"Y-yes, sir." The comms buzzed and then silenced. It was threats this those ones that made Hux glad that he had disposable underlings.

As Hux began his approach, he allowed his mind to become nostalgic once again, remembering the fear that was instilled in him for this place. The stories told of the most wicked haunting and possessions, many who fell under the influence of such things lost themselves completely, only being allowed to regain their own body just in time for their demise, however horrible and painful it may be. As a child he knew to fear the stories and as an adult he remembered the stories but now he was seeking them out. Seeking out the power he knew would need if he was to keep the Knights of Ren in line. He hoped deeply that no one else had beaten him to it.

Despite its large mass, the watery ruins of the Death Star was very fragile. Hux circled the old space station several times before finally finding somewhere safe decent to land his ship. He could have ordered some sort of platform to be built but that would take time and increase the risk of someone else claiming the prize. No, this had to be done by him alone.

He'd studied the plans for the Death Star in intense detail when creating Starkiller Base. He knew every corridor, chamber, nook and cranny. It helped that the Death Star was far smaller in size than Starkiller, although he had memorized the complete ins and outs of that too. But none of this was any good to him now traversing the crumbling ruins. Corridors that he knew of where no longer there. Remaining passageways and stairwells looked like they could collapse on him at any moment. Tredding carefully, he pressed on though. He knew it was here, in this imposing piece of starship on this lowly hunk of moon. The Red Guard hadn't found it elsewhere which only confirmed Hux's suspicions, it was here. There was a reason why this piece of the Death Star was so actively avoided. It remained unscavenged in an empty sea. It had and still did eminate a presence, a dark and powerful one. You didn't have to be born with the gift of Force sensitivity to feel it. It sent a chill down Hux's spine, made the hairs on his neck stand up and his heart beat thudded in his throat. When he reached out to touch the seemingly unscathed throne, the pulse in the tips of his fingers began to vibrate. Something descended upon him, a dark shroud that made him feel heavy and drowsy. His eyelids fluttered as he struggled to keep them open but found the less he fought back, the calmer he felt. So he gave in to it. Hux touched the cold metal of the chair and as quick as quick as falling asleep, Armitage Hux was no more. When his eyes reopened, they were yellow.

Transfer essence wasn't always easy. Especially if the a living, breathing being with a life and personality of it's own. It was always best to use a clone, a blank slate if you will. Much easier than trying to expel the spirit already inside. However, it helped that this time the boy was an eager and willing host. That, he will realise soon enough, would be his own mistake. When the Sith Lord gained control over Hux's tense form, he cracked his neck and loosened the stiff limbs that Hux had made his trademark. No Force abilities in this one unfortunately, however that was probably best, at least this way there was no opposing power to fight against inside. First thing was first, what did this boy know? Just how useful was he?

"Armitage Hux is it?" The voice that sounded was that of the young man's, Hux's. However, it also contained a certain gravitas that was more familiar to him. It gave Hux's voice an authoritative power that it had sorely been lacking before. "I'm grateful for your ... willingness in letting me in. However, I'm unfortunately lacking in abilities that I have long waited to be returned to me and in order to do that I must be rid of you."

In order to fully regain his power, he had to expel the boy's spirit from his body but first there were things he needed to know. Luckily for Palpatine, Hux was a very gracious host. The old emperor took a seat in the throne that he once dominated the galaxy from and calmly meditated. He took what he needed of the young General's mind before casting out his essence and surprisingly he was not disappointed at what he gathered.

"The Supreme Leader of the galaxy is a Skywalker?" And strong in the Dark side no less. Palpatine let a vicious grin spread across Hux's face. Skywalkers, however, had proven themselves to be unreliable in the past. Perhaps his future would be best left out of young Solo's hands. He could still be a useful catalyst though. The girl, Rey. Now she interested him very much indeed. His knowledge of her however was clouded in a haze of Hux's pre-pubecant lust. Solo, it seemed would provide him with more detail of her.

Above the crumbling space station on which he sat, the familiar sound of a star ship exiting light speed into the atmosphere announced the arrival of the man in question. Palpatine grinned as sparks of Force lightning exuded from his fingertips.

"Wonderful timing."

*****

Ben knew he was being transported somewhere. He only knew this because of the familiar nauseating feeling caused by Goran's lacklustre piloting skills. It would have turned his stomach if there was actual anything in it. No, he had been starved heaven knows how long, days and nights were a jumble because they'd stopped him from sleeping too. Ben could barely keep his head from rolling around on his shoulders most times or even keep his eyes open for more than a few seconds at a time. Why haven't they just killed him by now, he was basically dead already, what use was he?

Not sleep was bad, no sustenance was worse but the only thing that really caused him agony was the unshakeable pit of emptiness inside him. He had waited and waited for Rey. Rey. For her to reach out to him. Maybe come and find him. Hell, even let him know that she was still alive but she never came. Now, he just waited for it all to be over.

Ben was jostled violently when the ship came to a sudden, ungrateful landing and shortly after the door to his cell slid open. Which one of his Knights grabbed him, he had no idea but they were forceful in their handling of him. He wondered to himself how many of them had been waiting to see him torn down to pieces like this. His eyes were still closed when they dragged him outside. He squeezed them shut tight when the natural light began to shine through his eyelids and burn his delicate eyes. The cool, fresh air winded him and he gasped. The cold freezing the inside of his lungs. He must have been locked up on the ship for quite a while if his body was having this much of a reaction to nature. His curiosity got the better of Ben and he squinted his eyes open to peak at his surroundings, maybe even hazard a guess to where he was but as soon as he tried, the dim sunlight pierced pain through his eyes and into the back of his skull. He winced.

If sight wasn't an option, he was going to have to focus on the rest of the sensory overload and try and make sense of it all. As he was frog marched, his footing felt uneven and his boots crunched and snapped the ground beneath them, leaves and twigs most likely. He was definitely outside, probably in some sort of forest or woods. As he was dragged onwards, the infamous drone of the fighters passed overhead. The blissful ambient forest sounds started to give way to the sound of ships, machines and stormtroopers marching in perfect unison. Hux would be proud. There was something else too, he didn't quite place the static noise until they got closer and he could smell it too. An ocean. The light dimmed a little and Ben used this opportunity to finally have a look at the world. He prized his eyes open and blinked furiously to clear the blurred view. Salty sea water splashed his face and the bracing wind made him feel more awake and exhilarated than he had been since standing with Rey on the cliff faces of Ach-to. Rey. 

Truth was, this could have been any ocean. On any planet. Anywhere in the galaxy. Except for one monumental difference. The crumbling remains of a decades old space station that was plunged into the stormy grey depths of the sea. He knew exactly where he was. Now, more desperately than ever, he called to her, begging her to hear him. Rey.

It wasn't long before he was thrust back into the dark depths of captivity and strapped into an interrogation unit. What they wanted from him he didn't know. Surely they knew by now that what they didn't know, they would never know. He was left alone for a long time. Surely, whatever business the First Order had here on Endor's forest moon must be dark indeed. Ben used what he thought could be some of his last moments to do the only thing left in the world that could help him.

Rey! Rey, please! His mind burned screaming out for her. Trying reach out to wherever the hell she was. He needed to see her.

"Rey!" Her name ripped out his throat, his own voice barely recognisable. He pushed his mind with all the strength he had and almost like a clearing fog, he saw faintly an outline of a girl. Rey!

The pale girl looked thin, thinner than he remembered. Her skin almost translucent, covered in a thin, papery nightgown. A plastic mask covered her face, the machine attached to it working hard to pump life back into her.

"Rey?" Ben said. His voice was soft, terrified. Hoping desperately she would respond to him. The door to his cell opened and as the light from the corridor poured in, Rey disappeared.

"That's quite enough of that." A figure said as he stepped inside and the door closed behind him. Ben was sure that the man was Hux but the voice wasn't quite right and his stance was oddly different. That and if he wasn't mistaken, there huge amount of Force energy that Ben was sensing from him. Ben hadn't lost Rey a moment ago, the bond was sensed and promptly cut off, by this man. When Hux stepped closer, Ben saw the yellowing in his eyes and the off putting smile on his face.

"You're not Hux." Ben stated. Hux let out an evil, menacing laugh. No, he certainly wasn't Hux.

"You're much smarter than Hux believed you to be." He responded.

"Believed? I take it Hux is-"

"Dead? Most certainly." He finished. "Had to do it, there wasn't enough room for the both of us."

"Essence Transferance." Ben said. Hux grinned again. "Who are you in there then?"

"Let's just say your grandfather and I were old friends." Was all the information he gave and it was enough for Ben's to widen in fear.

"Emperor Palpatine." Ben said.

"I appreciate you using my correct title. It's a title intend to impose upon the galaxy once again."

"What do you want from me? You killed my grandfather, theres nothing left of me that would give you so you might as well just kill me." Ben spat at him.

"So dramatic, young Solo. It must run in the family." Palpatine responded casually. "Besides there's nothing I want from you specifically other than some information. You, my boy, are nothing but a mere tool to my final goal." Palpatine approached Ben, his withered hand raised to Ben's temple. "Now, be a good boy and show me everything."

Palpatine's power pushed painfully into Ben's mind, ripping through taking what he wanted. Ben's heart pounded when he realised what everything Palpatine wanted had in common - Rey. Pushing back, Ben saw for a brief second into the Emperor's head, his ultimate goal playing giddily over and over in his mind.

Ben saw Rey, cloaked in black hooded robes standing alone in a dark forest. She ignites a double bladed red lightsaber and flicks it into her double ended saber, a look ready to kill burning her eyes. She didn't look like herself. Ben had once saw that path for Rey but now he knew better, he knew her better. She'd never be weak and turn like he did.

Palpatine pushed further into Ben's mind, taking everything. Every moment, every word and every emotion shared with Rey through their bond. He'd seen it all. When he finally released Ben, his body slumped as far as it could in the torture contraption. His breath was knocked completely out of him.

"She'll never turn." Ben told him as adimently as he could, panting through his words. The Hux puppet grinned again.

"She will. You'll make sure of it." He could feel Palpatine roaming around in his mind again. "Yes, this will do perfectly."

Ben had heard the real Dark side powers were painful, especially when used well. Ben, however, had never been on the receiving end of it before. Palpatine's Force corrupt took hold and the pain was excruciating as it burned through every fibre of his being. He couldn't hear it through his own hearts but his scream of anguish sounded throughout the metal corridors. Every one around the First Order base heard his scream. Even people in the far reaches of the galaxy could hear it.

*****

"Ben?"


End file.
